STANFORD, Calif. — Down a set and an all-conference player, Hawai'i had Illinois just where it wanted it last night at Maples Pavilion.

The third-ranked Rainbow Wahine, still seething about being seeded 12th in the NCAA Volleyball Championship, reached tonight's Stanford Regional final with a 21-25, 25-10, 27-25, 25-16 victory over the eighth-ranked Fighting Illini, who were seeded fifth.

Hawai'i (31-2) will play 13th-seeded Michigan (27-9) for a place in next week's final four at Tampa, Fla. Michigan upset fourth-seeded Stanford (23-8), 25-18, 23-25, 25-22, 25-11, in the late match.

The 'Bows, who have won four national titles, have not been to a final four since 2003. They lost to the Cardinal in the elite eight last year.

The Rainbow Wahine took all the fight out of Illinois (26-6) with their 27th consecutive victory. They did it without senior Amber Kaufman, who was just named all-West Region and is hitting .434 — fourth-best in the country. She aggravated an abdominal strain and was pulled near the end of the opening set.

Kaufman, from nearby San Jose, was in tears on the bench, until she was taken to the locker room.

Her teammates were simply on a tear by then, jump-started by their youngest players.

The Rainbow Wahine got two-thirds of their kills from sophomores Kanani Danielson (21) and Stephanie Ferrell, who had a career-high 19. Freshman Brittany Hewitt dropped in on seven of Hawai'i's 11 stuffs, tormenting an Illini team that was about Hawai'i's size but not its equal, despite its Big Ten credentials.

The rest of the 'Bows served, passed and dug Illinois silly.

Aneli Cubi-Otineru, who broke out of a postseason chill offensively with 12 kills in the final three sets, drilled four of UH's eight aces.

The Illini managed just two aces, leaving UH setter Dani Mafua free to find her hitters before the block did most of the night, as UH hit .298.

Illinois managed just .203, thanks in large part to Hewitt, sophomore transfer Alexis Forsythe — who replaced Kaufman — and libero Liz Ka'aihue, who groveled for 19 of Hawai'i's 60 digs.

"We had a little adversity and we came together as a team," said Ferrell. "Lex did a great job blocking and holding their hitters."

UH had not dropped an opening set since its last loss — Sept. 6 against Cal. But Illinois scored 12 of the night's first 17 points. Its advantage disappeared when Cubi-Otineru served six straight to put Hawai'i ahead 15-14. Hewitt had three stuffs in the surge.

It wouldn't be enough, with Ferrell about the only UH offense early. She was 7 for 10 in the opening set, but her teammates mustered just four kills and five errors — three from Cubi-Otineru in as many swings.

Kaufman came out in the midst of a mini-rally that cut the Illini's lead to 23-21, but Illinois closed it out.

The Rainbow Wahine lost their nervousness and found their gameplan during the break. Faced with a threat, Illinois faded.

"We attacked them and I think they knew they were vulnerable in a certain area," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "I saw some doubt in their minds. We held their best player (Laura DeBruler) to negative in the first two games. That was huge."

Illinois hit zero (7 kills, 7 errors) in Set 2, getting stuffed three times. The 'Bows were 12 for 28 with four aces. Hawai'i scored the first six points with Mafua serving, then forced the Illini to burn their final timeout when Cubi-Otineru served six more to make it 14-4.

Ferrell had four more kills in the set, and Danielson and Cubi-Otineru also had four apiece.

But it wasn't until the Rainbows gutted out a victory in the third set that they took control.

After nine ties, they got to set point first on Danielson's 12th kill. Illinois erased that and got its own with its only ace that wasn't net-aided.

During a long rally Danielson dug a ball, then buried it to tie it at 25. After a Jayme Lee save, Cubi-Otineru put UH ahead, then won it with her seventh kill.

"Hawai'i is a great team, very athletic," first-year Illinois coach Kevin Hambly said. "They were what we expected them to be. The match went how I thought it could go if Hawai'i won the serve-pass battle. They were in-system a lot. It was textbook the way they attacked our block and they got in a good rhythm."

Inspired, the 'Bows blew to an 11-3 advantage in the final set, forcing the Fighting Illini to burn both timeouts in the first seven minutes.

There would be no Big Ten comeback. By the end, this was the WAC's best team beating up on the BCS.

Danielson crushed 19 kills in the final three sets, including four of the final five.

"We knew she was a great player," said senior Kylie McCulley, who led the Illini with 14 kills, but had just four the final two sets. "We knew she would be their emotional and attacking leader and she did exactly that. We were doing everything in our power to stop her and she's great. At certain points we just couldn't stop them."

Hewitt served "for the first time I absolutely had to" and was digging in the back row. Ferrell was the ultimate wild card, hitting .412 —more than twice her average.

"She was totally on it quick, no hesitation swinging at the big blocks we had to face," Danielson said. "She's looked sharp since the NCAA started and she's still holding her ground. I'm very proud of her to keep fighting and fighting."

It was contagious. Cubi-Otineru came back to reach 1,000 kills for her remarkable three-year career. "She was terrific tonight," Shoji said. "She really rebounded after a couple poor games late in the season. She's not 100 percent physically, but she has a lot of heart."

Finally, of all things, Hawai'i out-stuffed a team that out-blocked its conference opponents nearly 2-to-1.

It all happened in the 'Bows' eighth straight road match, and without its star middle blocker.

"We've practiced Lex at that position all week so she was comfortable there," Shoji said. "She touched a lot of balls that were critical in the match. She did a marvelous job considering."