But they will never see an NCAA final.

Third-seeded Florida assured that last night, before 6,805 at Reunion Arena, when it held off the second-seeded Rainbow Wahine, 30-28, 30-28, 23-30, 30-28.

It was the Gators' 36th straight victory since losing to defending national champion Southern California in their opener. It was also their first final-four win, after losing in all six previous semifinals.

Florida's Mary Wise will be the first woman to coach in an NCAA Division I volleyball national championship tomorrow when her team plays USC, which ended the stunning postseason run of 13th-seeded Minnesota (26-11), 30-27, 30-28, 30-20. The top-seeded Trojans (34-0) take an NCAA-record 46-match winning streak into the final.

Hawai'i (36-2) is left with the bittersweet combination of magical memories and deep disappointment. The 35-match winning streak that ended last night was nothing compared to the careers that closed without the ultimate prize.

This was the 'Bows' third final four in four years. They were shut out each time. This year, the pain is magnified by the loss of those seniors. All have started, and made an indelible impact far beyond the volleyball court.

"This might have been the best team we've ever had," said UH coach Dave Shoji, who has won four national championships. "We've just got other really good teams ahead of us. If those teams didn't have seniors like they do, then we win the match. But everybody has seniors."

It made for a desperate, amazingly fair fight last night. It was so close the 'Bows actually scored one more point. The Gators, however, got the points that mattered and are now the only team to hold an edge over UH in a team series (3-2).

"We played our (okoles) off," said Hawai'i's Lily Kahumoku, who buried a match-high 21 kills along with teammate Kim Willoughby. "They just made a few more plays than we did."

Both teams tried to feel their way early, bending to the pressure. "In the first game we were a little shaky," admitted UH co-captain Melissa Villaroman. "After the second game we told ourselves we weren't going to go out without a fight."

As it went on, and each team took more away from the other, the match grew ragged. But by the end it was clear the teams were so close they simply would not allow the other to find a rhythm.

"If it looks bad, it's because someone's putting pressure on you," Shoji said. "You can't hit into the block. You've got to try and create some shots and sometimes you look bad because you're trying way too hard."

Willoughby, the three-time All-American, suffered from that early, hitting just .054 in the first two games, with a dozen kills but 10 errors.

"Early, Kim tried to do too much," Shoji said. "She had a lot of hitting errors, but those weren't them actually stopping her. She was just trying to do too much. I thought Lily had a great match. She got worn down at the end, she'd been hurting (with back spasms) all week, but she started fast and kept us in the match."

Despite that frustration, the 'Bows had opportunities in all three games they lost.

They were up five in the first after Willoughby set Kahumoku to make it 18-14 and Florida All-American Aury Cruz had one of 10 hitting errors. The Gators clawed back to tie it at 21 behind the serving of Cruz and Michelle Chatman.

The last tie came at 26, on Willoughby's fifth kill. Cruz put Florida up 28-26 on a kill and stuff as Hawai'i's passing disintegrated. Kahumoku stopped the run, but Cruz put another ball down for 29-27.

Kahumoku's sixth kill saved a game point, but Cruz's sixth kill — one of many off-speed shots the Gators got down — ended it.

Hawai'i's senior middle Lauren Duggins rifles a shot at Florida's Michelle Chatman during the NCAA semifinal match. Photos by Paul Buck • Special to The Advertiser

Hawai'i freshman setter Kanoe Kamana'o dumps the ball over the net as Florida's Aury Cruz defends. Associated Press

Cruz crushed it for 29-26. Kills by Kahumoku, who hit .318 the first two games (10 kills, 3 errors), and Lauren Duggins denied two more game points. But after a Florida timeout, Cruz drilled her 12th kill between Duggins and Kanoe Kamana'o.

"I think the jump serve bothered us," Shoji said. "Every time we got into a rhythm we didn't handle the jump serve very well. I thought that was the difference in the match. ... If they dig us or block us, we can accept that, but we just didn't handle the jump serve very well.

"We were so close. We were way up in Game 1 and let it slide out of our hands. We could have won Game 2. I felt like they weren't stopping us. We were right in the match. One play here or there and we could have won both games. We could have won the match. They weren't dominating us."

The Rainbow Wahine finally got in their flow in Game 3. Shoji started Maja Gustin, who sprained her ankle in the first round two weeks ago and had played but one rotation since. "I probably should have put her in earlier," Shoji admitted.

Gustin, an all-conference middle, was exactly what the UH doctor ordered. She brought a fresh outlook and fresh legs, buried four kills in six swings and dropped in on an elusive block; UH managed just seven stuffs all night.

The Rainbows ripped to a 12-5 lead and never looked back.

"I thought, shoot, as in darn, because she's just another weapon we had to play defense against," Florida's Wise said. "She came in fresh and there weren't many fresh bodies out there. That was bad for the Gators."

And, it turned out, the brightest moment of the night for Hawai'i.

"She gave us a spark," Villaroman said. "She came in and put some balls down and she had great positive talk for each of us. She showed us the light, made us wake up and fight."

Added Kahumoku, coming close to tears: "She said go deeper, deeper inside yourself and we can do this."

But ultimately, the Rainbow Wahine could not. Florida's 10-4 surge, again with Cruz and Collymore jump serving, gave it a 17-16 advantage in Game 4. The Gators pulled ahead, 21-18, with four straight points and Hawai'i never caught up.

"We wanted to end on a good note and that's what I think we did," Willoughby said, trying to make herself believe it. "I was not dissatisfied at all with this match. I wasn't satisfied that we lost, but that's it. We played a great match and I can accept it. We lost to a team that played great tonight."

Hawai'i might take a long time to recover from this. Those seven seniors will be gone next season. They take with them 130 victories, and many more precious memories.

"We had anticipated this matchup and we felt we could win," Shoji said. "To not win is very, very disappointing. Those kids have played their hearts out, you just can't thank them enough. They fought hard. It's hard to deal with that.

"We obviously had our chances. I can't feel bad about the way we played, I just feel bad about the outcome. It was a tough match. It was hard to score and hard to figure how to stop them. I thought we did a pretty good job. We just didn't make enough plays."

QUICK SETS: The Rainbows' third-game victory ended Florida's NCAA-record streak of consecutive games won at 105. ... USC's Mick Haley was named national Coach of the Year yesterday. Haley was not the Pac-10 Coach of the Year, or Coach of the Year for his region. ...The coaches from the elite eight automatically qualify for the national honor, along with the eight all-region coaches, which included Hawai'i's Dave Shoji. ... The Rainbow Wahine rented the McKinney North High School Band last night, outfitting the 30 musicians in green Hawai'i shirts. The very youthful looking band — it might not have as many seniors as UH — held its own against Florida, even throwing in Rainbow cheers during its breaks.