For two teams with storied volleyball pasts and almost identical records, Hawai'i and Southern California have come at tonight's NCAA Championship Honolulu Regional from diverse directions.

The fifth-seeded Trojans, who have won six national titles, started with a new nucleus and matured through a 17-match winning streak to start the season.

"We lost one match and you should have seen them. I thought they'd died or something," said USC — and former Olympic — coach Mick Haley. "I really thought we'd lose three or four matches at least, but they (his players) didn't think so. They thought they'd win all of them."

USC has done it by surrounding freshman setter Taylor Carico and spectacular senior libero Debora Seilhamer with five huge hitters, including the dynamic Asia Kaczor (AH-shuh KA-chor) off the Polish national team.

"They don't try to finesse you or fool you, no mis-direction," said Dave Shoji, whose UH teams have won four titles. "They come right at you and pretty much dare you to stop them."

Hawai'i's season could not have been more different. By midseason, the Rainbow Wahine had lost three starters to injury. They lacked consistency and much of their confidence. It took them until the postseason to find themselves.

"We have a lot of heart because we've had to overcome a lot," senior Sarah Mason said. "It's made us really strong. ... It's not really physical anymore because we don't have many players we can go to. We have to look to each other more."

"We've overcome a lot of internal things," Shoji agreed. "Issues on the court, trying to get better as players and as a team. It's taken awhile. A lot of times people get impatient, as coaches and fans. It just took a little longer to work things out."

The renovated team is nothing close to the one 12th-seeded Hawai'i envisioned in August. What's left of the Rainbows has worked its way back through that confidence-killing preseason and a ragged Western Athletic Conference ride. It somehow found its soul in the long WAC road trips and the search to be taken seriously again.

In the past five matches — through an intimidating WAC Tournament performance and last week's NCAA subregional purge — the 'Bows have been brilliant. They have celebrated every second, and come into tonight's regional semifinal with a 15-match winning streak.

"I think a lot of teams are like, 'Who is this team?' — kind of taking us for granted a little," Mason said. "I don't think Long Beach ever imagined we would beat them on their own court. We have a lot to prove to keep our run going. Our game is getting better and better, and it will keep getting better. This is the highlight of our season now."

The Trojans opened with an unbeaten bang, then staggered after falling to Stanford the night they opened their new arena. They lost three of four, but have been defeated just once — by fourth-seeded UCLA — since.

"We had a little confidence slump there in the middle of the year," Haley said. "We had a run where we had to play four really good teams back-to-back, and lost three of them. It was interesting to see how they handled that and stayed together. They could have fractured a little bit."

Eight of USC's wins have come against ranked teams, including second-seeded Stanford and sixth-seeded Washington. All its losses were to top-four teams. "Just playing in the conference toughened us up," Haley said. "The preparation every night makes you better."

Far from "fracturing," the Trojans insist they have a bond that can't be broken. Haley calls their "lack of selfishness incredible, at this level and in this day and age."

USC is not remarkable in any one area, but has no weakness. Every attacker is a threat, every phase of the game solid, and the Trojans are bigger than Hawai'i at every position.

To beat that, the 'Bows will have to be better and more focused than they have all year.

When they were swept by UCLA early this season, UH sophomore Jamie Houston spoke of her team not being in sync. "Our energy was shooting in different ways," Houston said then. "It wasn't energy and being focused at the same time. It was just energy everywhere."

The 'Bows have evolved into a team that can channel its emotion and disparate talents into a serious force the past two weeks.

Houston and Mason have provided dependable offense, and freshman libero Jayme Lee has stabilized the passing and defense. All-American setter Kanoe Kamana'o has been phenomenal. Cayley Thurlby, Amber Kaufman, Elise Duggins and Raeceen Woolford have played their parts perfectly.

And the block, anchored by Kari Gregory and Juliana Sanders, and orchestrated by assistants Mike Sealy and Scott Wong, has buried teams. The 'Bows are averaging more than five roofs a game in the postseason.

Tonight, Kamana'o admits her team must run a "precise offense" that isolates hitters and a "precise defense" that slows the huge USC terminators. It is a tall order. But after all they have been through, the Rainbows have no problem believing it can happen.

A year ago, Hawai'i was coming off its finest moment — an overwhelming second-round victory over Texas at Texas. In the regional, and 50,000-plus miles into their season, the 'Bows "ran out of gas," according to Shoji.

He does not expect that tonight. "Not this time," he promised. "Not here."

NOTES

KFVE (5) will show tonight's UH-USC match live. The regional final tomorrow will be broadcast only on ESPNU, which is not available on Oceanic Time Warner — by far the largest cable company in Hawai'i. It can be seen on some satellite systems. Punahou's Chris McLachlin will do play-by-play for those who can get ESPNU.

Oklahoma's appearance here lends some coaching diversity. UCLA's Andy Banachowski is the winningest coach in the women's game, at 1,035-269 in his 40th year. Hawai'i's Dave Shoji (925-162) is next, in his 32nd season. Former Olympic coach Mick Haley (680-163), now in his 23rd year at Texas and USC, is ninth. Santiago Restrepo, in his third year at OU and ninth overall, is 174-116.

The Pac-10 has five regional teams for the second time in its history. Its teams (Washington, USC and Stanford) have won the last five national titles and 13 of the NCAA's 25. The conference is 90-22 in the last six years of the NCAA tournament, minus the seven matches Pac-10 teams played against each other.

Hawai'i won its first national championship 27 years ago today 12/8/79 when it rallied to beat Utah State in five games for the 1979 AIAW title. Eleven years ago today, the 'Bows won the first two games against Michigan State in the regional final, only to lose the last three and end their season 31-1. On Dec. 8, 1999, 13th-seeded Texas A&M upset UH here in the regional semifinals. Hawai'i was hosting the final four that year.

Going into its final homestand, Hawai'i still leads the country in attendance by more than 2,700 over its closest pursuer. The Rainbow Wahine are averaging 7,052, with Wisconsin second at 4,328. UH has 12 of the 15 best crowds this season. UCLA averaged 1,355 fans this year, USC 1,068 in its new arena, and Oklahoma 475.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.