STATE COLLEGE, Pa. — Missouri's version of Hawaiian-style volleyball was better than anything the Rainbow Wahine could come up with yesterday.

Hawai'i's season ended in an NCAA Regional semifinal for the second straight year as it fell to the 10th-seeded Tigers, 30-26, 26-30, 30-27, 30-22, before about 500 at Penn State's Rec Hall.

The 'Bows, ranked sixth by the coaches and seeded seventh in the postseason, finished 27-7. Missouri (25-5), making its first regional appearance, moves on to play 15th-seeded Tennessee tonight. The Volunteers upset second-seeded Penn State, 30-27, 14-30, 30-27, 33-31.

Hawai'i begins the long road back after spending most of the last three weeks on the road, and most of the first three months trying to find the combination that could claw its way back to the final four.

It came awfully close in last week's emphatic second-round victory over Texas. It was not nearly close enough last night, leaving the team in tears and seniors Susie Boogaard, Ashley Watanabe and Victoria Prince silent and distraught.

In their previous three seasons, Boogaard and Watanabe (Prince transferred in as a junior) lost a total of five matches. As the losses mounted early this season — five to teams ranked in the top 3 — the 'Bows tried to find themselves through nagging injuries and doubts and a schedule that took them more than 50,000 miles. After winning 21 in a row, they thought they made the discovery last Saturday in Texas.

Missouri proved that what the Rainbows found simply wasn't good enough. Armed with a set lineup dominated by upperclassmen and 6-foot-3 sophomore Na Yang, whose 24 kills effectively ended Hawai'i's season, the Tigers pulled out the pivotal third game then pushed that momentum through to the end.

"We knew they were an outstanding team and they proved it tonight," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "They are very balanced. Their setter (Lindsey Hunter) kept us off-balanced all night.

"I thought there was a key point in Game 3 where we had the momentum and there were a few plays we just didn't convert on that could have really separated us. Instead, they got the momentum and they are the ones who separated from us. That little swing in momentum proved huge. We just couldn't recover in Game 4."

Then Shoji took a breath, looked at his devastated players and admitted: "I think the travel and being on the road so much the last three weeks finally caught up to us. The kids didn't have enough gas. We didn't have another gear to go to. We kind of ran out of magic here at the end."

Missouri never let Hawai'i have the advantage in Game 1. The Tigers' passing was nearly perfect as they scored 13 of the first 20 points. When the 'Bows tried to rally, Yang ended every threat with one of her seven kills.

"She's a good volleyball player and she just kept hitting the same spot," Prince said, before breaking into tears again.

"She opened the match and hit two or three balls straight down the line," Shoji added. "We had to move the block over and then she shredded us cross-court. She's got great vision. Whatever we tried to take, she did the opposite. We just couldn't touch enough balls. She got the key kills when they needed it."

Prince nearly matched Yang early, going 6 for 9 in the first game, but Hawai'i's outside hitters struggled. Freshman Jamie Houston buried five of her 19 kills, but hit only .118, while Sarah Mason had four kills but hit zero.

Tara Hittle, who played backrow for Mason in Game 1, stayed on in the frontrow in Game 2 and turned the momentum around with seven kills. Juliana Sanders also picked up, drilling all four sets she saw while the 'Bows built a 20-15 advantage and held on, despite five more kills from Yang.

Game 3 was tied 14 times, but the most important point came mid-match when Hawai'i threatened to pull away. Hittle, who also finished with 19 kills, had two in a row to put UH up, 17-16. Missouri miscommunicated on a set to fall two back and called time after being outscored 6-2.

When play resumed, Hittle hit into the net and was blocked. The surge was effectively purged and Mizzou scored seven of the game's last 10 points, then got the first five points of the final game with Hunter acing UH three straight times.

"I felt we did a good job coming back in Game 3 and regrouping and trying to get back to the basics for us," Mizzou coach Wayne Kreklow said. "I think that was a pivotal game. I felt it was a big game because it was so back and forth ... if we could get that one it would give us some momentum going into Game 4."

The 'Bows battled back in Game 4, but couldn't cut their deficit below four. In the final two games, Prince, who had nine kills the first two games, added but two more as Missouri's serving ran UH setter Kanoe Kamana'o all over the court.

Mizzou did everything but out-dig Hawai'i and only missed that because Watanabe (26 digs), Kamana'o (20) and Hittle (16) were phenomenal defensively, repeatedly taking balls off their faces.

"They are a good blocking team, a great defensive team overall," Kamana'o said. "It was really hard for us to put a ball down. They were digging up every single ball."

That sounds like a description of the Rainbow Wahine, from almost every opponent they have played since Shoji started coaching in 1975. The teams were mirror images last night; Missouri simply looked better.

"Overall, they made more plays than we did, it's pretty simple," Shoji said. "Tactically, I'm sure I'll be second-guessing myself as far as the lineup and substitutions. I had a lot of ways I could have gone, but in the heat of the battle you've just got to push the buttons. I know I'll be hard on myself but I can't fault any of my players. Their effort was like it was every night."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.