When the NCAA was done sending Hawai'i on its latest postseason Tundra Tour yesterday, the Rainbow Wahine talked about "little things" and "big Russians." When the organization entrusted with putting the "student" in student-athlete has just sent you 4,376 miles for your first-round NCAA Volleyball Championship match, pretty much anything makes sense.

The Rainbows (26-5) were seeded 11th by the NCAA, but sent packing again. They will play Tennessee State Friday in a Louisville, Ky., subregional. The Tigers (20-13), with Kamehameha-Hawai'i graduates Makena Naho'oikaiki and Precious Salazar, are making their first NCAA appearance, after winning the Ohio Valley Conference Tournament.

The winner faces the winner of Louisville (22-7) and Middle Tennessee (33-2) on Saturday. The subregional champ advances to the Penn State Regional at State College, Dec. 7 and 8. The Nittany Lions, seeded third in the tournament, will probably be there along with sixth-seeded Washington, the 2005 NCAA champion.

"First we have to take care of business to get to Penn State," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "Then I think it's a monumental task, but stranger things have happened. We'd have to beat two of the best teams in the country, back to back, to get to the final four. ... But we'd love to be in that position."

Tennessee State and Middle Tennessee will drive 220 miles — combined — to get to Louisville. The 'Bows will spend more time than that waiting in airports. In the past six years, Hawai'i has been sent to regionals in Lincoln, Neb., Green Bay, Wisc., and State College, Pa. (twice). The only years it escaped freezing temperatures and multiple time-zone changes came when it hosted in 2003 and 2006.

This is the fourth straight season, and fifth in seven years, UH earned a top-16 seed but will not host first and second rounds. The 'Bows have advanced to the NCAA Regionals the last nine years, and took yesterday's news like it was ... well, yesterday's news. They fly an average of 40,000-plus miles a year. What is another time zone or two?

When asked what she thinks when she hears "Louisville," sophomore Aneli Cubi-Otineru joked, "tall Russians," a reference to the Cardinals' multi-national roster. Louisville, led by former Russian national coach Leonid Yelin, has players from Russia, Latvia, Uzbekistan, Slovakia, Germany and China, who range from 5 feet 9 to 6 feet 8.

Hawai'i beat the 23rd-ranked Cardinals here Sept. 2. That history, and their familiar multiple-flight itinerary to a faraway place, actually brought the Rainbow Wahine comfort. But getting to Penn State will take a big commitment to "little things," UH captain Tara Hittle said.

"It's not about who we're playing," Hittle said. "It's that time of the year when if you lose it's over. It's a sense of urgency, to not want the season to end. We need to get better on our side every day, take care of all the little things that sometimes get by. Be that perfect team and try for perfection in every part of our game."

NOTES

Hawai'i's match with Tennessee State will start at 11 a.m. HST Friday and be carried live on 1420 AM. No television coverage has been announced. Saturday's subregional final is scheduled for 2 p.m. HST.

Hawai'i has been in all but one of the 27 NCAA Tournaments, missing out in 1992. It is one of nine former champions in the field, capturing NCAA titles in 1982, '83 and '87.

New Mexico State is the only other Western Athletic Conference team in the tournament. It was sent to Texas and will play LSU in the first round. The Big 12, Big Ten and Pacific-10 led all conferences with six teams selected. The Southeastern Conference has five teams, and the West Coast and Missouri Valley four apiece.

The final four is Dec. 13 and 15 in Sacramento, Calif.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.