The issue was briefly discussed in September: Could the Western Athletic Conference really afford having the volleyball tournament in Honolulu this week?

The question now is: When will it return?

“;I think if you poll the coaches, they'd want this as the permanent site,”; WAC commissioner Karl Benson said yesterday. “;The tournament atmosphere here can't be duplicated anywhere else.

“;This IS WAC volleyball.”;

Last night, a crowd of 3,972 watched Hawaii advance to tomorrow's championship game against top seed New Mexico State with a 25-21, 26-24, 25-14 sweep of Idaho. The Aggies advanced with a sweep of San Jose State.

The WAC tournament records for average (1,232) and total attendance (13,554) will be obliterated in the three-day event at the Stan Sheriff Center. Those marks were set in 1998 when the event was held in Las Vegas.

The volleyball rotation sends the tournament to Boise State next November.