"They made amazing plays and that's a credit to them," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "Especially in Game 4 the ball just wouldn't go down. We had chances to put the game away and it just wasn't happening. That's a credit to Middle Tennessee. That's what happens when you get on a roll and you're into it mentally and you start playing like they did.

"It's fun to watch. I didn't enjoy it, but I'm sure a lot of people did. It was a pretty amazing defensive effort by them."

It was also the end of Hawai'i volleyball in 2007, beaten for the fourth time this season by an unranked team — something that had happened just seven times the previous 25 years. The disappointment went deeper when Brigham Young upset sixth-seeded Washington to skate into next week's regional semifinal against Middle Tennessee.

"There are all kinds of teams like Middle Tennessee that are on the brink of breaking into the top 20," Shoji said. "I'm sure people in Hawai'i are saying, 'Who are they?' But I saw them in person and they're a very good team, a very good program. They're well-coached. So even though it's kind of a no-name team ... I don't feel good about losing to them, but they certainly earned it."

And Hawai'i got what it deserved, outlasting 292 Division I teams, but falling short of the Sweet 16 for the first time in a decade. It was that kind of season. The 'Bows could look determined and dizzy, sometimes on successive points.

Their ballhandling matured into a huge asset after more than a year filled with what Shoji calls "gross errors," but under pressure it often digressed, leaving the offense predictable.

Players played startlingly well one night and dismally bad the next. The team pulled together in the worst of times, willing itself to rallies and salvaging games and matches that looked long lost. Unfortunately that happened often, and spoke to yet more inconsistency.

It was a worry every night, even for parts of the matches where Hawai'i played its most compelling volleyball, digging and passing in a zone that allowed the offense to take teams apart. Shoji said consistency was a constant concern, in part because four-time All-America setter Kanoe Kamana'o wasn't around to steady things out.

"That's what we missed most," he said, "someone like her."

He also pointed to setting as an area that has to improve next season. "It has to be more consistent and a little more dynamic," he said. "Both our setters are trying real hard, but right now it's not where it needs to be."

That problem must be solved internally. Hawai'i recruited Kamehameha hitter Kanani Herring and 6-foot-4 middle Britanny Hewitt, out of Iowa. She will join Amber Kaufman and, ideally, a healthy Nickie Thomas in the middle, along with freshman Amanda Simmons.

Juliana Sanders, who should be named all-region a second straight year this week, graduates from the middle as does Kari Gregory, who shared time with Kaufman. Walk-ons Raeceen Woolford and Caroline Blood will also be missed.

Shoji, who turns 61 tomorrow, will be back.

"Certainly when you lose like this you start thinking about retirement," he said. "I'm going to take some time and think more about my future. I'm not leaving anytime soon, but I probably need to come up with a better idea so I can go into the administration with a plan."

NOTES

Next year's schedule will include Washington and Penn State.

UH captain Tara Hittle, who was thinking about playing basketball before she was injured last year, will try again this season. Her scholarship will be covered by basketball because that sport is considered "dominant" by the NCAA. Women's basketball gets 15 scholarships, volleyball 12.

Along with Hawai'i and Washington, other seeded teams that lost Saturday were No. 9 Kansas State (beaten by Oregon), No. 15 Dayton (Michigan State), No. 7 Wisconsin (swept at home by Iowa State), and No. 14 Colorado State (Michigan). Fifth-seeded USC escaped from Long Beach State in five games.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.