While the Hawai'i Pacific softball team's exclusion from post-season play may have come as no surprise to those inside the program, to those who followed the Sea Warriors' historic 43-5-1 run this season, the situation merits a single word of description.

Snub.

HPU dominated a weak Pacific West Conference field, finishing 23-1 in conference with a seven-game advantage over second-place Dixie State. Yet, despite finishing the season with eight consecutive wins, the Sea Warriors watched helplessly as their regional ranking fell from a season-high No. 2 to No. 8 at the end of the season.

Only the top six teams in the region advance to postseason play.

"We had an indication a month ago that we were going to be left out, so it wasn't a big surprise," said HPU head coach Howard Okita. "We thought at the end of the season that (the polling committee) might do something, but it wasn't to be.

"We kept winning, but our ranking kept dropping," he said. "We did our part, but they didn't do their part."

The rankings are largely dependent on strength of schedule, a fact that greatly hinders Hawai'i teams, which traditionally lack the resources to travel to the Mainland to play stronger teams.

Like most Hawai'i Division II schools, HPU was only able to make one road trip this season, an Odyssean journey that saw the Sea Warriors win 9 of 15 games over 11 days.

"To me, something is wrong," said Okita, who served on the regional selection committee four years ago. "I think strength of schedule is more for Division I, where the schools have the funds to travel wherever they need to. How do you get strength of schedule in your conference when teams won't come here to play us? We have to go out and play them, and it's not easy to win on the road."

Okita noted that the overall strength of the conference took a hit when Hawai'i-Hilo, a traditionally solid program, was forced to cancel several games, reportedly due to budget problems.

"They basically didn't have a season," he said. "If they played (a full schedule), our wins against them would have been more valuable."

Still, Okita said he was impressed by the focus and commitment his players demonstrated down the stretch, even as it became evident that they likely would not advance to regional play.

HPU is the first 40-win Division II team nationally not to make it to the postseason.