FORT COLLINS, Colo. — In a freak occurrence of matter over mind, sixth-ranked Hawai'i apparently got an early blast of the arctic front that came in Saturday night and coated this college town in snow and sub-zero wind chill. How else to explain the Rainbow Wahine's ice-cold volleyball play against Stanford in the NCAA regional semifinal?

Hawai'i hit the wall Saturday, and the Cardinal just happened to be on the other side. The 'Bows, whose season ended 31-4, shocked themselves into rare silence with their performance. It was an ironically bad way to conclude what had become a season of so much hope.

"I never saw it coming," said UH coach Dave Shoji. "We came up big last weekend. We started slow, but came around against Purdue. I had no idea we'd play like we did."

The thought of anyone believing Hawai'i had a chance against Stanford, which will play in its 18th final four this week, probably says all anyone needs to know about the 'Bows' season.

Humbled, and somewhat humiliated, by a second-round loss to Middle Tennessee State last year, they underwent a major makeover on the court and in their consciousness. After they soared past 12th-ranked Southern California at last weekend's subregional in Los Angeles it seemed anything was possible.

Then on Saturday, as the snow moved in and the temperature took a dive, absolutely nothing went right for Hawai'i.

It had started the season with a shift in offense to hyper-drive with first-year setter Dani Mafua's foot jammed on the accelerator. Senior all-conference hitter Tara Hittle slipped seamlessly into the libero position. Hitters Jamie Houston, Aneli Cubi-Otineru and Kanani Danielson came at teams from left, right and center, with three diverse styles. Middles Nickie Thomas, who salvaged one good year after suffering two season-ending knee injuries, and Amber Kaufman gave the middle a radical make-over.

It looked and sounded good on paper and opening week, but losses to top-ranked Penn State and sixth-ranked UCLA left doubts. Those were not erased until Hawai'i held on for a five-set victory over then-No. 12 Minnesota, and breathlessly rallied from two sets down to shock ninth-ranked Washington.

To put that in perspective, the Huskies were seeded fifth in this NCAA Championship, and were up 9-3 in the fifth set against fourth-seeded Nebraska Saturday before fading.

"My assistant leaned over to me the first time we played them and said, 'I have a hard time believing there are nine teams better than that in the country,' " recalled Utah State Grayson DuBose of an early encounter of the three-set kind. "Those three outside hitters just tee off on us.

"From my perspective, they look like they are really enjoying playing volleyball with each other, they seem to be working hard for a common purpose. They seem more diverse as well, mixing up the offense. I like Kaufman off one foot and Danielson has really seemed to take some of the load off of Houston."

By the time the Rainbow Wahine found themselves at their 10th regional in 11 years, they had 30 wins for the 16th time in Shoji's 34-year career, but first since the magical 2004 season. A ragged but resilient-looking win over Purdue of the Big Ten Friday had all the Rainbow Wahine believing they could beat Stanford, especially Shoji, who acknowledged the Cardinal's superior talent but was adamant that his "team" could overcome any Fab-50-loaded Pac-10 power.

His players, aside from an inexcusable crash and burn against New Mexico State, were enjoying everything about this season. Kaufman, the Olympic Trial high jumper with ridiculous hang time, even spoke of how she and Mafua were developing a "telepathic" relationship.

Then reality hit like the wind and snow and zero-degree temperature the Rainbow Wahine woke up to yesterday before coming home. Stanford smacked them around again, as they have at every NCAA Tournament showdown since 1987.

The Cardinal will be coming to Hawai'i next year, along with Texas, UCLA, Cal, St. Louis and Michigan. The 'Bows are bidding to host a regional in 2010 or 2011 (their last bid was rejected, with next year's regionals placed at Stanford, Florida, Minnesota and Omaha, Neb.).

Now all they have to do is replace: The irrepressible Hittle, who finished her career third on the UH digs list; Houston, the on-again, off-again, on-again terminator who is second on the career kills list; and Thomas and Jessica Keefe, whose careers as impact players were sadly shortened by knee injuries.

Shoji already has Liz Ka'aihue, the starting libero in 2007, plugged in for Hittle, with Jayme Lee and Emily Maeda right on her diving heels. Thomas' place in the middle is up for grabs between four players, including redshirt freshman Brittany Hewitt and incoming freshman Kristiana Tuaniga.

Stephanie Ferrell is air apparent to Houston. She touches 10 foot 3, is more physical than Houston and probably a better volleyball player at this point in her career. And, Ferrell has a passion for the game that is contagious. USC's Mick Haley, her club coach, compares her to former Rainbow Wahine Olympian Deitre Collins. His last words after his Trojans were torched by UH were, "Take care of Steph ... she's going to be special."

Hawai'i could start three underclassmen next season, with Danielson's quiet-leader persona in stark contrast to seniors Kaufman and Cubi-Otineru. Shoji believes Danielson should be the national freshman of the year. She averaged in the 290's — hitting percentage, kills per set and digs — all season and upped her production nearly 25 percent against ranked teams.

This for a team that was 10-1 away from home, ranked in the top six nationally in hitting, kills and assists, and took out Pac-10 and Big Ten teams before being stopped a step from the final four, in a place so cold there are footprints on top of ponds.

"To have Hawai'i named with the Texas and Penn States, Washingtons, Stanfords and Floridas of the country is a feather in our cap, I think," Shoji said. "We are out there in the Pacific. People don't know a lot about us. But we're right there in the national scene. That's what we take from this. We are in the top eight. We take that home and we're very proud of that."

NOTES

The Wahine Volleyball Banquet will be a brunch, on Jan. 25 at the Waikiki Room in the Hale Koa Hotel. It will be from 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m., and cost $45 ($40 for booster club members). Payment is due by Jan. 20. For more information, call 257-8863 or 521-1456.