FORT COLLINS, Colo. — Sixth-ranked Hawai'i fought back from the abyss of last year's subregional loss into the elite eight of this year's NCAA Volleyball Championship, only to fall apart tonight against second-ranked Stanford.

The Cardinal continued its dominance of the Rainbow Wahine with a 25-19, 25-9, 25-18 wipeout at Moby Arena. The 'Bows, who brought an 18-match winning streak into the regional final, saw their season end abruptly at 31-4.

"I don't think we ever got into our game tonight," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "Stanford hit for a fantastic hitting percentage, they were balanced, they served well and were the better team tonight."

Stanford (30-3) moves on to next week's final four in Omaha, Neb., where it will play third-seeded Texas. Top-seeded Penn State plays fourth-seeded Nebraska.

"It was really fun to watch tonight, for me as a coach," Stanford coach John Dunning said. "I thought we did a lot of things well in the hard work areas, we played great defense, blocked really well and I think the whole thing started with passing and serving."

Stanford hardly had to do anything to win the first set, and didn't. The Cardinal hit but. 226, with Erin Waller - its least imposing hitter - the only one hurting Hawai'i. All-Americans Cynthia Barboza, Alix Klineman and Foluke Akinradewo hit a combined .042 with five kills.

It didn't matter. The 'Bows, seeded seventh in the tournament, gave away 11 points on hitting errors, missed two serves, let three balls drop and did not have a block.

Then, shockingly, in front of an ESPNU national audience, they got worse. Stanford scored seven straight early in the second set to go ahead, 8-2. The points came on a shank and six hitting errors.

Klineman missed her serve after timeout, but the Cardinal got the next five points on an offspeed shot that dropped in the center of the floor, Akinradewo's second kill and three more hitting errors.

By the time Shoji had burned his last timeout, his team trailed 13-3, was hitting negative .421 and Stanford had figured out all it had to do was keep the ball in.

"I was on the bench for most of Set 2, relaxing, enjoying myself thinking, what beautiful volleyball," Akinradewo said.

All the attributes that brought the Rainbows into the elite eight had disappeared, starting with their passing and ending with a defense that disappeared when they needed it most.

The nine points Hawai'i scored was its lowest total since it lost to Nebraska, 15-3, in the first game of the 2000 final four - before rally scoring to 30 and 25 started.

"We've been down like this before," Hawaii outside hitter Jamie Houston said. "We just couldn't find our rhythm and couldn't get back into it."

The Rainbow Wahine didn't get their first ace until the 13th point of the third set and it came in the midst of their first sign of life. With Stephanie Brandt serving, they scored four in a row to tie at 7. A moment later, a Stanford dig and an ace fell untouched and Janet Okogbaa crushed a bad pass.

The Cardinal pulled ahead 11-8 and Hawai'i would never close again.

Stanford is headed to its 18th final four. It has won six NCAA titles, but lost in the last two national finals. The Cardinal have won nine of the last 11 against the 'Bows, and cut its series deficit to 17-13 tonight. The teams are now 3-3 in the postseason, with Stanford winning the last three.