FORT COLLINS, Colo. — After all that work to reach volleyball's elite eight, Hawai'i never showed up last night.

Second-ranked Stanford continued its dominance of sixth-ranked Hawai'i with a 25-19, 25-9, 25-18 wipeout watched by 2,547 at Moby Arena. The 'Bows brought an 18-match winning streak into the NCAA Championship regional final, only to see their season end abruptly at 31-4.

Hawai'i was so bad in front of a national television audience it was tough to tell how good Stanford (30-3) is as it heads to its 18th final four, which begins Thursday in Omaha, Neb.

This much is clear: The Cardinal has the Rainbows' number. It has won nine of 11 against the 'Bows since 1990, to cut its series deficit to 17-13. The teams are 3-3 in the postseason, with Stanford winning the last three.

Last night's blowout looked suspiciously like the 30-10, 30-22, 30-24, smackdown Stanford laid on the 'Bows in paradise two years ago, or was it that most one-sided national final in history dating back to 1996 (before rally scoring), when Hawai'i scored but 15 points?

"Stanford has had lots and lots and lots of good players and lots of people who work hard," said Cardinal coach John Dunning. "That probably just evened out the wins and losses between the two schools. I love playing against Hawai'i. Dave is a great coach. I enjoy his friendship and enjoy his team. They play hard every play."

That was true last night. If anything, the 'Bows tried too hard.

"At the beginning, we tried shots we normally don't try," said UH senior Jamie Houston, who leaves at No. 2 on the UH career kills chart, between former national players of the year Kim Willoughby and Teee Williams. "We were just trying a little too hard, right off the bat."

Stanford didn't need the help. After a slow start, the six-time national champion found another level the last two sets, despite mediocre performances by All-Americans Cynthia Barboza, Alix Klineman and 2007 national player of the year Foluke Akinradewo.

"They've got three players that could have been on the Olympic team," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "They've got more talent. We thought we had a better team. But the team wasn't there tonight."

The Rainbows, so buoyant and upbeat the last month, were left stunned and silent when it ended, particularly Houston, Hittle, Jessica Keefe and Nickie Thomas — the four seniors.

"I'm disappointed, just in the sense that we didn't play our game," said Hittle, who leaves at No. 3 on the career digs list, behind Willoughby and Tita Ahuna. "If we would have, I think it would have been a totally different match. ... If we had played our best and lost it would have been a much better feeling."

No one on the Hawai'i side played close to her best. Other than Erin Waller — the Cardinal's least imposing hitter — both teams were terrible in the opening set. Stanford hit but .226 with Barboza, Klineman and Akinradewo a combined .042 with five kills. It didn't matter.

The 'Bows, seeded seventh in the tournament, gave away 11 points on hitting errors, missed two serves, let three balls drop and did not have a block.

"We looked up at the scoreboard and we were behind 11-7 and they had three kills," Shoji recalled. "All eight other points were our errors. ... We were very tentative to start the match and I'm not sure why."

Then the 'Bows got worse. Stanford scored seven straight early in the second set with Klineman serving to go ahead, 8-2. The points came on a shank and six hitting errors.

"You never really expect runs like that, especially against great teams like Hawai'i," said Klineman who, like Barboza, seriously considered playing for UH. "For a while we couldn't do anything wrong."

Klineman missed her serve after a timeout, but the Cardinal got the next five points on an offspeed shot that dropped in the center of the floor, Akinradewo's second kill and three more hitting errors.

By the time Shoji burned his last timeout, his team trailed 13-3, was hitting negative .421 and Stanford had figured out all it had to do was keep the ball in. All the attributes that brought the Rainbows into the elite eight had disappeared, starting with their passing and ending with a defense that disappeared when they needed it most.

"We've been down like that before," said Houston, who had a match-high 13 kills. "We just couldn't find our rhythm and a way to get back into it."

"It was just weird," Hittle added. "We felt like we couldn't get out of it. Then it got ... so out of hand."

The Rainbow Wahine got their only ace on the 13th point of the third set and it came in the midst of their first sign of life. With Stephanie Brandt serving, they scored four in a row to tie it at 7. A moment later, a Stanford dig and an ace fell untouched, and Janet Okogbaa crushed a bad pass.

The Cardinal pulled ahead 11-8 and Hawai'i's season was in its final moments. Shoji had not seen it coming, but when he looked back, the painfully quick end to what will eventually be remembered as a very good season, was not all that surprising.

"If you look at each player individually ... Nickie was never in this situation, Dani (Mafua) had never been in a match like this, except last week," he said. "Being on national TV, we had players out there a little tentative. It's human nature. Athletes at every level don't always perform when they are on the big stage. I'm hoping it's a learning experience for Dani and some of the younger players. Kanani (Danielson) finally showed some freshman tendencies after being solid all the way around, but tonight was different.

"I asked our team to analyze themselves tonight, each individual, and make sure next time they are in this kind of situation they can perform better. We are all human and that certainly was a factor tonight. Something was just missing."

NOTE

Stanford will play third-seeded Texas (29-3) in a final four semifinal Thursday, with top-seeded defending NCAA champion Penn State (36-0) playing fourth-seeded Nebraska (31-2).