They made conference play look way too easy...

Wahine Seattle-bound POSTED: 01:30 a.m. HST, Nov 26, 2012

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Hawaii won't host in the NCAA tournament, instead heading for the mainland this week

By Ann Miller

Hawaii's last live look at its Rainbow Wahine volleyball team this year ended with Emily Maeda quickly saying "yes" to Chad Reis when he proposed marriage Friday at her senior night.

Sunday, the NCAA's answer to eighth-ranked Hawaii's proposal for hosting a subregional was an adamant "no."

NCAA VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT » Matchup: Hawaii (26-2) vs. Santa Clara (20-11) » When: 3 p.m. Friday » Where: Alaska Airlines Arena in Seattle » TV: TBD » Radio: 1420-AM

The Wahine, with a win over second-seeded Stanford and no losses since Sept. 9, are not among the 16 seeds for the NCAA Championship. The program that's set the bar for attendance opens in Seattle for the second time in three years.

That news was met by utter silence as the Wahine watched the selection show at Stan Sheriff Center.

"We can definitely compete with all those teams in the top 16," UH junior Emily Hartong said. "I think we deserved to play here.

"But it will be fun to go back to Washington. It was a terrible feeling losing there in the second round (in 2010), so it will be nice for all the girls who have been here as long as I have to go back and play there again. Hopefully we don't feel the same when we come out of there this time."

Hawaii (26-2) opens Friday, at 3 p.m. at Alaska Airlines Arena, against Santa Clara (20-11), one of six West Coast Conference teams in the tournament.

The winner most likely meets fifth-ranked Washington (23-6) on Saturday. The Huskies, one of seven Pac-12 teams in the tournament, open against Southland Conference champ Central Arkansas (30-4), making its first NCAA appearance.

Washington and Hawaii were Nos. 16-17 in the NCAA RPI released Sunday, with Santa Clara 45th and Central Arkansas 49th.

Iowa State, No. 18 in the RPI and coaches' poll, got the 15th seed. Unranked Kentucky, with an RPI of 19, is the 16th seed. Both are hosting subregionals.

Hawaii coach Dave Shoji believes the brackets were set "well before this weekend." That belief is backed by the official NCAA release. It has his team's record as 25-2, which is what it was before the Wahine finished off an unbeaten Big West season Friday.

"Somebody didn't see fit to travel three teams to Hawaii like they did last year," Shoji said. "I'm not sure of the reason. Maybe it's financial. I'm not sure if we made money last year, but they (NCAA) certainly hung their hat off the attendance being better in the NCAA tournament and that was strictly because of us.

"You'd like to be inside that room and see how things came about. You want transparency, but this selection process is not transparent. That's unfortunate."

Penn State is the top seed, followed by Stanford, Texas and Nebraska. Those teams have won 15 titles dating back to 1988, when Texas defeated UH in the NCAA final. The Wahine won their fourth and last title in 1987.

To win another will take two victories in Washington, two more at the Omaha, Neb., regional and two more at the final four in Louisville the week after that.

Shoji needs five wins to reach 1,107 and become the winningest Division I women's coach in history.

That is some 9,000 miles away today.

Santa Clara was fourth in the WCC and is making its 14th NCAA appearance, but first since it upset 16th-ranked Kansas State at the 2008 Seattle subregional. Washington crushed Hawaii in the second round two years ago. Nebraska did the same in a spring exhibition this year. The 'Huskers, however, have lost four times in the last month.

"Nebraska has struggled and they're the fourth seed, so I kind of like that part of it," Shoji says. "We're not running into a hot team if you get that far. They are certainly really good. They had their way with us in the spring, but if you had your druthers you'd probably pick Nebraska out of the top-four seeds. We just want to get there. We have a long way to go before we get there."

Through all the lineup changes and inconsistency, UH takes a 19-match winning streak into the NCAA tournament. The Wahine feel ready for anything that comes their way.

"I think we're coming together as a team," says Maeda, their only senior. "We're peaking at the right point. We're working hard and we're motivated to play well wherever we are, so we were pretty ready to hear whatever they were going to say. This is not too much of a shock."

Disappointing maybe, but hardly shocking after Hawaii's NCAA history.

"I just want to thank our fans for supporting us," said Shoji, whose team drew more than 126,000 this season. "Our attendance was great again this year. Unfortunately for everyone, they don't get rewarded by seeing a playoff game. It's not in our control and it certainly wasn't that we didn't have the support."