Rainbow Wahine volleyball did not find itself in the top half of yesterday's final 2007 CSTV/AVCA Coaches Top 25. That is noteworthy for a Hawai'i volleyball program that has won three NCAA championships and finished outside the Top 10 only five times since the poll started in 1982.

The 'Bows were ranked 18th in the final coaches' poll (16th in the Molten/Volleyball Magazine media poll). It is their lowest year-end ranking since they were 25th a decade ago. They were 13th in 2001, 18th in 1993 and not ranked in 1992, the only year UH did not participate in the NCAA Tournament.

Hawai'i ended this season 27-6. It was seeded 11th in the postseason, but lost in the NCAA's second round to unseeded Middle Tennessee, 15th in the final poll. It was the first time in a decade the Rainbows did not finish the season at a regional, but coach Dave Shoji said comparisons between this team and the 1997 squad were unfair.

"Now there are many more teams like us than there were in 1997," Shoji said. "We probably should have won one or two more matches and we didn't. You get what you deserve."

Penn State beat Stanford in a five-game NCAA final Saturday. Those teams are 1-2 in the final poll, followed by Southern California, Cal and Nebraska. New Mexico State, the only other ranked Western Athletic Conference team this year, received votes but no ranking in the final poll. The Aggies had been ranked as high as 13th during the season.

There are six Pac-10 teams in the final Top 10, with UCLA (7), Oregon (9) and Washington (10) joining the trio of final-four teams. The conference went 19-6 in the NCAA Tournament, with three of the losses to other Pac-10 teams. The Big Ten was 12-5 and Big 12 10-6. No other conference had more than four wins.

What struck Shoji at the final four, beyond the Pac-10 dominance, was the athleticism and youth of the final two teams — with players UH tried to recruit. "You wonder if they were in your program if you could be that good too," Shoji said.

Penn State does not have a senior starter, and could be Hawai'i's season-opening opponent next fall. The Nittany Lions are playing in the Rainbows' first tournament. The focus in the interim is to "close the gap," according to Shoji, starting with setting. Shoji said returners Stephanie Brandt and Dani Mafua, both in their first year with UH this season, must "take a big leap forward."

"They have to run a faster offense and be able to set every set with more consistency," said Shoji, who lost four-time All-American setter Kanoe Kamana'o after the 2006 season. "I think we have the athletes who can play in the quicker offense, but the setting was not at that level this year. You can try and run it, but sometimes you have to just do what's best for the setter and the team."

Shoji expects Kamehameha senior Kanani Herring, just named Player of the Year for the third time, to help Hawai'i "close the gap." Brittany Hewitt, a 6-foot-4 middle blocker from Iowa, is "probably a season or two away." A lot will also depend on the health of Nickie Thomas, who started the last two seasons as the 'Bows' best middle blocker, but was lost to injury both years.

In other volleyball news:

• The 2007 Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Banquet will be Jan. 27 at the Hale Koa Hotel, at 5:30 p.m. (6:30 p.m. dinner). Cost is $50 for the general public and $45 for Booster Club members. Tables of 10 run $450 for Booster Club members, $500 for the public and $600 for corporations. For more information, call 256-7184 or 521-1456. Payment is due by Jan. 20.

• Fresno State is looking for another new coach. Ruben Nieves is gone after going 18-71 the last three years. Nieves replaced Punahou graduate Lindy Vivas, who had a winning record but was let go after the 2004 season, then won a $4.52 discrimination suit.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.

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