Over the course of Dave Shoji's 34-year volleyball coaching career at Hawai'i he has left little doubt that he hates to lose. Saturday, after his sixth-ranked Rainbow Wahine swept 12th-ranked Southern California to reach this week's NCAA Championship regional, it was just as clear that this win meant more than many of the other 981.

It came in the Trojans' 2-year-old Galen Center, against a team that was serving to get into last year's NCAA championship match and has been to four of the last six final fours, winning the national title in 2002 and '03. It came against a colleague (Mick Haley) he has shared a friendly rivalry with for three decades, most memorably the 1988 NCAA final won by Haley's Texas team.

It came against a team from the Pac-10, volleyball's most devastating conference, with a court-full of familiar faces.

"Almost all the USC players who played tonight we tried to recruit," Shoji said late Saturday in Los Angeles, as he watched the Warriors football team let a big one get away from the friendly confines of a Roy's Restaurant. "It makes you appreciate the kids we do get, the fact they can compete and beat a team like USC. I felt the same way when we beat Washington and Minnesota.

"We don't get the high school All-Americans. Kanani (Danielson) is definitely that caliber, but most of their starters we tried to recruit and never got past first base. That tells you about the kids we have. They can work hard, improve their game. They are tough kids, compete hard. They want to learn, want to get better. In that we could actually beat a team with just as much tradition as we have and better facilities ... it's been a top-five program for many years and will be again ... it just feels good to be mentioned in the same kind of class as SC."

Saturday, the Rainbow Wahine (30-3) were a class above in the 25-21, 25-18, 25-22 victory that moved them into their 23rd regional; they have won three NCAA championships, the last in 1987, and the 1979 AIAW title. The 'Bows, seeded seventh by the NCAA, play 10th-seeded Purdue Friday in Fort Collins, Colo. Second-seeded Stanford (28-3) takes on 15th-seeded Florida (27-3) in the other regional semifinal.

The 17th-ranked Boilermakers (26-8) won their fourth-straight five-setter Saturday, ousting Middle Tennessee State — the sleeper that took out Hawai'i in the second round a year ago. Purdue is 11-1 in five sets this season, the only loss against Utah State.

The similarities between the Trojans Saturday and the Rainbows a year ago Saturday are striking. Hawai'i took control early and refused to let the swagger-less Trojans into the match. Shoji referred to "internal issues" with USC and Haley was painfully honest about his players' shortcomings after it became the only Pac-10 team to eat volleyball dust opening weekend.

"One of the things we have not seemed to be able to do with these personalities," Haley said, "is generate energy that makes it flow for us."

It was a very California-esque explanation of a group that had failed team chemistry, which Shoji and his players all admitted to last year after the mess against Middle Tennessee. All has been forgotten, particularly after the 'Bows worked the gameplan to perfection Saturday.

"I'd say it's a totally different team," Shoji said. "It's a totally different mindset even though most of the players are the same. Everybody having a role and accepting the role and not being selfish. The other thing is, we're just better — better offensively, better defensively. Nickie (Thomas) added a lot to the situation and obviously Kanani makes a huge difference. It's not close to being the same team."

His blockers forced the taller Trojans to hit over the block, where Hawai'i's perimeter defenders dug almost everything up. USC never caught up to the Rainbow Wahine offense, again back in fast-forward attack mode. It especially couldn't cope with 6-foot Amber Kaufman, who hit .714 on a variety of monstrous kills from the middle.

"We thought we could do what we did," Shoji said. "I don't know if we expected we would do it. They (the Trojans) are very, very predictable. It's just their power against our defense and our defense won."

Purdue is similar, but with a faster attack and an offensive balance that extends to setter Jaclyn Hart. She nearly had a triple-double in Friday's win over Louisville. The Boilermakers are playing in their third regional in four years; it would have been four in five years if Hawai'i had not ended their season in a Fort Collins subregional in 2004, as it moved to 30-0.

Shoji is not looking back. He is also not looking forward.

He made no plans for his team if it won in Los Angeles, preferring to pour all his energy into beating Belmont and, especially, USC. The players were set free in Southern California yesterday and will "reconvene" today for conditioning.

The tentative plan is to fly to Colorado tomorrow and train in Boulder a couple days before driving the 38 miles to Fort Collins. It is 5,003 feet in elevation and expecting snow the next two days, with temperatures expected to warm up to 40 for the Rainbow Wahine.

"I didn't even bring a jacket other than a windbreaker," Shoji said. "I was very superstitious about getting past USC. I might have to buy a coat."