For all their vast differences, seventh-seeded Hawai'i and Belmont — the Rainbow Wahine's opening opponent in the NCAA Women's Volleyball Championship Friday — have two things in common only a trivia buff could appreciate: Tennessee and President-Elect Barack Obama.

The 'Bows (28-3), ranked sixth again in this week's Coaches Top 25, will have played opponents from Tennessee in their last three NCAA Tournament matches once they take on the Bruins (25-7) at Southern California's Galen Center (3 p.m. Hawai'i time). UH beat Tennessee State in the opening round last year in Louisville, then lost to Middle Tennessee.

Belmont, located in Nashville, was the site of the Presidential Town Hall Debate in October. It was a night when Tom Brokaw infamously failed to keep the candidates under control and Sen. John McCain notoriously referred to the Hawai'i-born and raised Obama as "that one."

It was probably the biggest thing to hit the campus of 5,000 in its history. More than 63 million Nielsen families watched and 2,500-plus media members filed from the Bruins' soccer field, which was then retired. The debate was staged in the Curb Event Center, home to Belmont's volleyball and basketball teams, and the last two CMT Music Awards shows.

The Bruins' women's soccer team reached the NCAA Tournament even without its field. The volleyball team lost its home for 37 days, and rebuilt a team decimated by the loss of three four-year starters, yet still managed to reach its second NCAA Tournament in three years.

These Bruins will be around for a while, with 11 underclassmen, including freshman setter Channing Salava. Coach Deane Webb was 5-22 in his first season at Belmont and has won 20-plus matches the last five. This team has more wins than any other in Bruin history and is on an 11-match winning streak coming into Friday's match.

"What's made this year special is that we had much further to go than two years ago, when we started strong and were a more mature team," Webb said. "This year we started 4-4 and at times making the tournament looked like a stretch. Eleven of our 14 players are freshmen and sophomores. To see them improve has been special."

When the Bruins captured the Atlantic Sun championship two years ago, their NCAA debut involved a 150-mile bus ride to Louisville and a three-set spanking by Ohio State. This time they actually get to take a plane to Los Angeles, and leave temperatures that have been flirting with freezing at night.

"The players saw California and got excited just to fly," Webb said. "Most of the team has never been to California, and being at USC, which has such a rich athletic tradition. ... On top of that, there is an opportunity to play a program with a history like Hawai'i. Obviously, we have the utmost respect for that program and its coach and all it represents."

Belmont's conference has not won a set in the NCAA Tournament since 1997, but the Rainbow Wahine are more likely to focus on their second-round meltdown last year against Middle Tennessee than the relative attributes of the Atlantic Sun.

Murfreesboro, home of Middle Tennessee, is 31 miles from Nashville. The Blue Raiders and Bruins are very familiar with each other and Hawai'i's loss last year has given every Cinderella team hope for a happy ending.

"I don't think our players always know what happens on the national scene, but they know now," Webb said. "We made them aware of Middle Tennessee's win last year and they know the level of team MTSU was a year ago.

"MTSU surprised a great number of people last year. We knew how good it was ... knew they had a chance to be competitive on a national level. I hope our team knows anything is possible. I'm also aware MTSU is a very, very athletic team and athleticism can do some very special things. We do some things differently — some things better and some not better. We do it our own way."

The Bruins are not big or bruising. They are balanced and always attacking, starting with the serve. They rank fourth nationally in aces and have 100 more aces than Hawai'i — and 200 more service errors.

Seven hitters average more than a kill, including setter Salava, whose blossoming game has been the inspiration for Belmont's late surge. The most imposing attacker is Cat Mundy, who has led the team in kills 20 times and had nine aces in a match. She and Emily Cahill, the school's career percentage leader (.338), are the only seniors.

Webb guarantees the Bruins will come out blasting.

"We are aggressive," he said. "We're OK with errors as long as they are aggressive errors. There's a fine line ... you don't want be too out of control. You want errors of commission not omission. Playing any high-level opponent, if you play tentatively you are just going to make it worse."

NOTES

For the first time since the Rainbow Wahine moved into the Stan Sheriff Center full-time in 1995, they averaged fewer than 6,000 fans a match. In 23 home dates this season, Hawai'i drew 136,714, for an average of 5,944.

The lowest previous average was 1995, when it drew 6,042. The Rainbows attracted a national record 8,378 per match the following year, when they reached the NCAA final behind Olympic silver medalist Robyn Ah Mow-Santos and national Player of the Year Angelica Ljungquist.

The 'Bows have led the country in attendance every year since 1994, when they moved into the Stan Sheriff Center mid-season. Klum Gym, their previous home, held less than 2,000.

Hawai'i's subregional matches will be broadcast live on ESPN 1420 AM. There is still no commitment for television coverage.