The Rainbow Wahine (27-5), seeded 11th in the postseason, play Middle Tennessee (24-2) tomorrow 2 p.m. Hawaii time in the second round. Middle Tennessee ousted 24th-ranked Louisville in the evening match, 30-28, 18-30, 30-23, 27-30, 15-12.

The winner of this subregional advances to the Penn State regional next weekend. The 'Bows are 13-0 in second-round matches since the tournament expanded beyond 32 teams in 1993.

The Tigers ended their historical season 20-14. They won nine of their last 10 to capture the Ohio Valley Conference championship and earn their way up the I-65 from Nashville to their first postseason. But after a tense first game, the Rainbow Wahine's defense and offense smothered them,iwth serving providing the finishing touch.

Hawai'i had 10 aces in the 79-minute match, three from Stephanie Brandt and two apeice from Amber Kaufman, Jamie Houston and Aneli Cubi-Otineru. Houston led the attack with 18 kills. The 'Bows out-dug TSU 40-20 — 27-9 in the last two games.

The teams groveled through 18 ties in an opening game that was a struggle for both offenses. Hawai'i won by pulling itself up to a .262 hitting percentage. It scored seven of the final 10 points with Juliana Sanders getting half her six first-game kills. The Tigers hit just .220, with Christian Lowe getting the most swings but making five of the team's seven hitting errors.

When it was over, it was if Tennessee State never came back out.

The Rainbows went on a remarkable 14-1 run to burst into a 22-9 lead in Game 2. Hawai'i had five kills and two stuffs in the streak, while the Tigers provided three more hitting errors, three violations and a shank.

TSU out-blocked UH 4-2 in Game 1, but went stuff-less the rest of the match. Hawai'i hit .524 in Game 2 - 645 points higher than the Tigers. Houston had eight of her team's 14 kils. It got so bad, TSU turned setter Candace Saleaumua into a passer.

Nothing helped. The Rainbows also ripped through Game 3, playing everyone as freshman Amanda Simmons put down match point.