STANFORD, Calif. — If you are looking for a reason this team with the less-than-imposing appearance has brought Hawai'i to its first volleyball final four in six years this is it:

Credit everyone.

Every part of this third-ranked Rainbow Wahine team, which won the Stanford Regional Saturday, is integral to the whole. Every small and tall body play a crucial part. When one is down, or even out, another has her back.

"It's definitely heart," said menehune-sized senior Jayme Lee after the win over Michigan moved the Rainbows into a national semifinal Thursday against top-ranked Penn State. "This team has a heart bigger than anything I can imagine. Bigger than me, bigger than anything else.

"We knew this team (Michigan) was just as good as us. It's exactly the same as us. Not big, but fast. It went five with Penn State. It serves good, passes good, plays in the Big Ten all year so they don't see teams like the WAC's. It was crazy, but we wanted it more and we deserved it."

Count the ways.

The Rainbow Wahine are the lowest-seeded team to reach the final four since unseeded Santa Clara broke through in 2005.

Their 28-match winning streak, which included victories over the Pac-10's two top teams, convinced the coaches to rank them third every week since Oct. 12. That was all but ignored by the NCAA Committee.

UH was seeded 12th and the bracket was based almost solely on the NCAA's power rating — and last year's bracket by the looks of it.

The 'Bows were mad, for about two minutes, then prepared to get even. Aside from a one-sided loss to second-ranked Texas and a five-set fall against 10th-ranked Cal, nothing has kept them down this season.

"We wondered why does everyone think that?" Lee recalled. "But it's been rewarding showing the whole nation that this is where we belong and we earned this respect."

They compensated for what they could not earn in the WAC by improving, somehow, through two months of conference blowouts. They haven't played at home in more than a month and hit the wall midway through their NCAA second-round match against USC at USC.

They fought through it by suffocating the Trojans' two best players. They did the same against fifth-seeded Illinois in the regional semifinal, then stuffed Michigan's most potent offensive threat Saturday.

In the last three matches, Hawai'i has held opponents' left-side attack to negative .005 hitting — 35 kills and 36 errors in nearly 200 swings.

"Somehow we took away everybody's strength," said UH coach Dave Shoji. "Somehow we are just doing a great job taking away their best players, just slowing them down with the block and digging the ball behind it and running transition."

Somehow someone has always come up big. When senior Amber Kaufman aggravated an abdominal injury in the regional semifinal, she took herself out because "I just figured Lex (Forsythe) would do more and a better job than me." When Kaufman made a heroic return Saturday, she was superb.

Freshman Brittany Hewitt and sophomore Stephanie Ferrell had a breakout weekend, Hewitt giving the 'Bows a huge blocking threat and Ferrell going for a career-high 19 kills Friday.

"With Amber not being 100 percent I took it on myself, I took it personal, felt it's up to me to put the team on my shoulders," Ferrell said. "Everybody will work hard for us to get past the other team and get through the adversity."

Everybody has, from passers to servers, defenders, blockers, hitters, setters and backups. The Rainbows have played to their strengths and overcome pretty much everything and everyone. They broke the Big Ten's spirit, twice, at Stanford.

Illinois coach Kevin Hambly called them the smartest team he's seen all year. Michigan's Mark Rosen characterized Hawai'i as the best serving and passing team.

Penn State, with its 100-match winning streak and quest to become the first to three-peat, will test every bit of the 'Bows' will and skill. But how could anyone count them out now?

Shoji won't, though he is still not quite sure how they have done it.

"I just enjoy watching our under-sized kids fight so hard and overcome a lot of physical deficiencies," he said. "They equalize the game just with their heart and their volleyball skills."

NOTES

Gov. Linda Lingle issued a statement congratulating the Rainbow Wahine yesterday, saying they "made a decisive statement in the national volleyball arena that Hawai'i remains a force to contend with." The statement called 35-year head coach Dave Shoji "legendary." It went on to say "the Wahine played with heart, enthusiasm and determination, as they have throughout the season" and that the team and staff "continue to bring tremendous pride to the University of Hawai'i and our entire state."

UH has launched a new online auction on HawaiiAthletics.com and it currently features the Rainbow Wahine's pink jerseys and autographed match balls used during the "Dig Pink" match for breast cancer awareness. Proceeds from this auction will support UH Athletics and the American Cancer Society. Starting bid for jerseys and match balls is $25. Closing date is Sunday at 6 p.m. Throughout the year, the auction will offer items from the department including authentic jerseys, event tickets and special event packages. Proceeds will support the athletic department.

Volleyball's annual banquet will again be a brunch, Jan. 31, at Hale Koa Hotel at 10:30 a.m. Seating is limited and deadline for payment is Jan. 24. Cost is $50, or $45 for Wahine Volleyball Booster Club members. For more information, call 257-8863 (Maggie) or 521-1456 (Stanley).