Maybe the NCAA knew what it was doing putting its Honolulu Regional final on a television network hardly anybody sees.

Hawai'i's volleyball season ended last night when fourth-seeded UCLA blasted the 12th-seeded Rainbow Wahine, 30-16, 30-23, 30-23, in the NCAA Championship's elite eight. The lopsided loss, played before 8,802 at Stan Sheriff Center, was an anticlimactic finish to the 'Bows' remarkable postseason run.

After losing three starters to injury before the season was half over, Hawai'i re-invented itself. In a process loaded with problems, UH learned to make do with almost no depth.

The Rainbow Wahine (29-6) flailed through most of the Western Athletic Conference season, losing to a WAC opponent for the first time in eight years and struggling on the court and internally.

But at the WAC Tournament over Thanksgiving weekend, they suddenly found their rhythm. They overwhelmed three teams and continued the tear at last week's subregional, pounding Oregon and Long Beach State in the 49ers' arena.

When Hawai'i rallied Friday to stun fifth-seeded Southern California in five and run their winning streak to 16, anything seemed possible.

It is, at least for UCLA by the looks of last night. The Bruins were by far the best team, running away in the opening minutes and never letting Hawai'i catch them, or even catch on to what they were doing.

"We lost to a better team, that was obvious," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "We couldn't find any weakness at either pin (outside) or in the middle. Their overall game was just unbelievable. They passed, played great defense, blocked. We just didn't have an answer. We were in position and just couldn't get over the hump. They kept us off-balance all night long, first from the service line and then their game was pretty much flawless."

Shoji and his players refused to use Friday's frantic match as a reason for last night's loss.

"I just thought it was UCLA," Shoji said. "Them forcing the issue. There was probably a little fatigue but I wouldn't say that was the reason we lost."

UCLA (33-3) plays top-ranked Nebraska Thursday in an NCAA Championship semifinal at Omaha, Neb. Second-seeded Stanford and sixth-seeded Washington, the defending NCAA champion, play in the other semifinal.

"It's been a long time since we've been to the final four," said Andy Banachowski, who has won six national titles in his 40 years as UCLA's coach, but not reached the final week since 1994. "We've been knocking on the door a number of times. This is a group I really felt could get that door opened. They did that tonight in very fine style."

The 'Bows' elite-eight finish was their best since the final-four seasons of 2002 and 2003. It was the most surprising since the 2004 team, which returned only Kanoe Kamana'o, yet won its first 30.

"It was a very fun college career, from the beginning of my freshman year," said Kamana'o, who finished seventh on the NCAA's career assist list. "Despite the injuries we had at the beginning of the season this team really didn't let down. We looked more toward each other without those three starters. We knew we had to grow up fast in order to be the team we wanted to be and we did. Each and every one of us had the heart in themselves to move on and step up their level of play."

The final match for seniors Kamana'o, Sarah Mason and Cayley Thurlby began badly, much like the first time these teams played three months ago and very much like Friday's regional semifinal. Hawai'i trailed 16-5 when it took its final timeout of Game 1. On this night, the Rainbows would find no more magic.

"We tried to look for that one spark play to lift us up again," Kamana'o said. "When it did happen we would get going and when it didn't, UCLA took control of the entire game."

The block that had lifted them to new heights did not touch a Bruin in the first game. It finished with 10 1/2 stuffs — the only statistic UH would win — but never truly hurt UCLA.

The defense behind it not only couldn't compensate, but had lost the precision that made Hawai'i's transition game so effective the past two weeks.

The 'Bows' passing, which had come so far since its early futility, was precisely as bad as it had been in the first UCLA sweep. They managed just five good passes the entire first game and it never got much better.

That dragged the offense down with it. Jamie Houston and Mason, so dynamic in the postseason surge, were left to try and create kills from awkward angles against double and triple blocks lying in wait.

"They really disrupted our passing so it was difficult to get 1-on-1 for the outside hitter," Mason said. "They go up and they are just huge and the sets are higher because the setter is running to get the pass. They strategically took us out of our game."

Regional MVP Nana Meriwether, who could become the first player in NCAA women's history to lead the country in two statistical categories (hitting percentage and blocking), led the Bruins with 13 kills and five blocks.

Houston finished with 12 kills for UH and Mason seven, but the two combined for 18 of the team's 22 hitting errors. Hawai'i hit .087, to UCLA's .345.

"I'm sure they were very tired," Banachowski said. "They had a great match last night with USC and they might have been a step slow. Their passing was a little off and their defense — balls they might usually get up they couldn't cleanly dig.

"But we came out firing tonight. We served tough, our offense was clicking. It's not the best we can play yet, but I'll take the first game anytime."

NOTES

Jessica Keefe and Nickie Thomas, who both missed most of the season after injuring their knees, were with the team this weekend. Tara Hittle, the third starter lost to injury, had surgery on her ankle yesterday in Los Angeles.

This was only the third time UCLA and Hawai'i have met in the NCAA postseason. They split the first two matches, with UH beating the Bruins in the 1983 championship and UCLA ending the 'Bows' 2001 season in the regional.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.