LOS ANGELES — For Rainbow Wahine volleyball, home is on the road in December, whether it's iced-over Fort Collins, Colo., or smoggy Los Angeles. Sixth-ranked Hawai'i hasn't been home for the opening rounds of the NCAA Tournament since 2003 and, as the country's most isolated Division I school, might never be again.

The 'Bows are settling in downtown this week. Their hotel is four miles from the Southern California campus where tonight's NCAA first-round matches will be played, and four blocks from downtown's latest, greatest revival — L.A. Live, an entertainment complex next to the Staples Center and Nokia Theatre designed to bring locals back to what an architecture critic called "no-man's land."

The second phase of the $2.5 billion, 4-million square-foot complex opens tomorrow, highlighted by the Grammy Museum. ESPN's new West Coast broadcasting center and restaurants such as the Conga Room — owned by Jimmy Smits and Jennifer Lopez — are up next.

The timing of "Times Square West" is terrible with high-end properties opening as the economy tanks. Its location also remains sketchy; the LAPD has opened a new complex nearby because of security fears and everybody who enters Club Nokia is "wanded" with hand-held metal detectors.

In the midst of this madness the 'Bows (28-3), seeded seventh in the tournament, open against Atlantic Sun champion Belmont (25-7) at 3 p.m. HST at Galen Center — a 2-year-old arena made possible by a $50 million donation. The 12th-ranked Trojans (16-11) and 15th-ranked San Diego (23-4) follow.

Winners play at 4 p.m. HST tomorrow for the right to advance to the Fort Collins regional next weekend. That is a long way from L.A., but not as long as the process NCAA teams take to send and receive video with UH.

By NCAA mandate, every subregional squad must overnight video of its last match the day after the selection show to its first-round opponent, and prospective second-round opponents. Because of Hawai'i's isolation, it didn't receive Belmont's tape until Tuesday evening. Same with the Bruins, who got USC and USD tape that morning.

Those in charge of "breaking down" tape and preparing a game plan are a different breed, with strange sleeping habits.

Associate coach Mike Sealy sent Belmont the tape of last Friday's Cal Poly match, which featured the return of injured setter Dani Mafua as a starter. He probably would have preferred to send last Wednesday's win over the same team.

"They would have no idea what we were doing," Sealy said. "The two matches were like night and day. We didn't play well the first match and Friday everything clicked."

What he got in return was footage of Belmont sweeping Lipscomb for its 11th straight win — three sets to help design a game plan for a match that could end your season. Sealy says the biggest drawback to the system is that you have little idea of how Lipscomb passed or served, or the size of its players.

He also called friends who have seen Belmont, or mutual opponents, but that proved difficult. Louisiana Tech lost to the Bruins in August, but coach Matt Sonnichsen didn't keep the tape.

Schools have expensive computer programs that break down matches by rotations or players. Sealy looks for tendencies and quirks, going over the tape as many as three times, searching for different variables and writing reports, after he breaks it down. Then he watches it again with the team.

In Belmont, he sees a "complex offense," where middles and outsides can hit from anywhere on the net, making it tough on blockers. But mostly what he sees is the country's fourth-best serving team, with Bruins blasting non-stop from the back line.

The unheralded Atlantic Sun champ is actually harder to scout than USC, which just comes at you with a high-ball offense and tall players. "Its offense is very much like its football team in the '70s," said Sealy, a UCLA graduate. "Student body left or student body right."

If Hawai'i wins, he will spend a few hours looking at tape of USC or San Diego after watching that match in person. He will also watch the Rainbow Wahine again. It will be a very late night/early morning.

"I can't sleep unless I look at it, to see if there are any great unknowns," Sealy shrugs. "And if we play badly, I can't sleep before I look at that."

NOTES

USC swept San Diego at the Galen Center in September. The Trojans have lost their last three. This season they have beaten Cal, Oregon and UCLA — who are or were in the top 10 — and also lost to all three, including a four-set loss at Cal where they were up a set and 24-17 in the second.

Washington ended USC's school-record 32-match home winning streak at Galen Center this season. The Trojans are 37-3 overall at Galen. Their 2006 season ended at Hawai'i in the regionals. Last year, the Trojans reached their sixth final four in six years, falling to Stanford in the semifinals.

Jessica Gysin is the Trojans' only All-Pac 10 selection. Alex Jupiter is on pace to become the third freshman to lead the team in kills, after April Ross (2000) and Tracy Clark (1982).

San Diego, playing in its 13th NCAA Tournament in 14 years, has won the last three West Coast Conference championships. Junior hitter Amy Mahinalani DeGroot is WCC Player of the Year, averaging 4.28 kills (19th nationally). She was born in Honolulu.

The Toreros are 0-6 against USC. They haven't beaten a ranked team outside the WCC this season. Their losses came against Washington, USC, USF and Saint Mary's.