AUSTIN, Texas — One look at the wet and wildly elated eyes of Hawai'i said it all Saturday night. Texas was not the only volleyball team the Rainbow Wahine blew away. They had taken the rare step of blowing themselves away.

"I was overwhelmed," senior Ashley Watanabe said. "A lot of credit goes to the coaching staff for such great preparation, and the players for believing we could go beyond our normal playing realm and what we know. God was carrying us through the miraculous. ... God was definitely in the house."

That would be the Longhorns' Gregory Gym, in Saturday's NCAA Championship second round. Texas' 1,500 fans were ultimately overwhelmed as well by the 60 or so Hawai'i fans ranging from families (Watanabe, Victoria Prince, Susie Boogaard, Kari Gregory, Tara Hittle, Jamie Houston) to former players (Jennifer Carey and Margaret Vakasausau) and coaches (Howard Wallace) and relocated Islanders.

The Rainbows had the volleyball "rammed down our throats" by the Longhorns in losing Game 1 (30-19), according to UH coach Dave Shoji. In a turnaround of immediate and immaculate creation, the 'Bows proceeded to terrorize Texas, which shared a No. 7 national ranking with them, for the next three games.

"Everything came together," Shoji said. "A lot of times you can't see that unless you're playing somebody of equal or better talent. Something just clicked in and we made a lot of plays."

Hawai'i never trailed in the final three games and gave up just 59 points to the team that upset top-ranked Nebraska a week earlier. UH rallied its way into an eighth straight regional and will play 10th-seeded Missouri on Friday at Penn State. The team will stay on the Mainland and plans to fly into snowy State College, Pa., today.

One parent described Saturday's poetic performance as the first time last year's relentless will and goodwill met this year's enhanced talent. Watanabe found the characterization ideal.

"It's an awesome thing to say," she said. "We talked as a team about how it was a real honor to be on last year's team because no other team could experience a chemistry like that. This year we're fusing the two together. It might have taken awhile, we've taken our knocks, but it's coming together. It's something this team can carry for this year and the year after that and the year after that."

For now, Hawai'i only has to focus on four more matches. The quest for a fifth national championship starts with the Sweet 16 date with Missouri, which swept Texas two weeks ago and was swept by the 'Horns two months ago.

Texas coach Jerritt Elliott called Missouri balanced, with "more physical" middles than Hawai'i and left sides than UT, along with a "great setter." But after what he had just seen, he leaned toward UH.

"The way Hawai'i played tonight they are the better team," Elliott said Saturday. "They've got more balance, they are a little better blocking team. Kanoe (Kamana'o), I can't say enough for her in terms of what she does for that team. She set one hell of a match."

The tiny All-American took Texas apart, with a huge assist from her hitters. Houston, a freshman, launched 20 kills on .529 hitting. Sarah Mason didn't even start and finished with 15 kills, all but one in the final three games.

Houston was serene before the match and sensational in the midst of it. Mason's presence on the bench, where she has been since reinjuring her ankle Nov. 9, gave Shoji the freedom to pull Hittle out early when she struggled offensively.

What came next was the best left-side performance, by far, all season. Shoji, who celebrated his 59th birthday yesterday, also had rare praise for Kamana'o and seniors Prince (10 kills, .474, 8 blocks), Boogaard (9 kills, .444, 4 blocks) and Watanabe (13 digs).

"I thought our seniors played their best match of the year," he said. "Ashley was outstanding. She passed extremely well. I thought Susie had her best match of the year. Her stats don't show it, but she hits solidly, blocks very well, passed very well.

"We need that senior leadership, need the seniors to step up and they certainly did tonight."

Watanabe almost made the match sound like an epiphany. It started with an emotional pre-game chapel attended by more than half the players, became believable as the Rainbow Wahine got comfortable with Texas' tempo at the start of the second game and only grew more vivid as the night went on.

"Not one of us talked about a single negative thing after the first game," Watanabe said. "Not one of us allowed ourselves to doubt. We just allowed that aura to seep in. From there, we just had more and more confidence.

"We knew we had nothing to lose. We knew there was no time to question or analyze. We had to charge ahead. Almost immediately after the second game started everything fell into place. ... It was a confidence, a subtle but really mighty confidence, and ooooh, it felt so good."

Now, the Rainbow Wahine have to find that feeling again. How tough is that?

Watanabe believes it is easy. Or maybe, like the old New York Mets, she's just "gotta believe":

"You just continue to pray and expect that level," she said. "Keep expecting more and believe in bigger."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.