Seven Hawaii seniors went down swinging with their teammates Saturday, falling to a Brigham Young volleyball team playing at a ridiculously high level in the second round of the NCAA tournament.

The Cougars started fast and closed faster in a 25-21, 25-17, 25-13 sweep. It ended the Rainbow Wahine’s season at 25-5 and kept them out of the NCAA regionals for only the sixth time — four in the last seven years –since 1981.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd (8,495 tickets distributed) said goodbye to seniors Mita Uiato, Emily Hartong, Ali Longo, Kaela Goodman, Courtney Lelepali, Ashley Kastl and Kristiana Tuaniga for the final time.

That might have been the toughest part of a very difficult night for 11th-seeded Hawaii.

"It was a great season," said Hartong, struggling to keep her composure. "I wouldn’t change anything about it. I’ll miss them a lot. Every girl is a great player and person as well. I hope the girls grow up and remember the legacy our class left."

They will try to forget their final match. The Wahine tried everything and so did their fans, standing and exhorting them in the final set with UH athletic director Ben Jay screaming in the aisle.

"They did an unbelievable job with the noise they created in that third set," BYU coach Shawn Olmstead said. "It was awesome."

But not nearly enough. Brigham Young was simply too good.

"We were clearly outplayed by a very, very good BYU team," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "They were almost error-free and beat us in every phase of the game. They wouldn’t allow us to do what we wanted to do and we couldn’t slow their attack.

"I’m not sure of the reason we didn’t play better. We practiced and prepared well, but those things happen in college athletics. Four seeded teams went down today."

BYU (24-6) plays sixth-seeded USC in Los Angeles on Friday. Kansas, seeded 14th, takes on third-seeded Washington in the regional’s other match.

The Wahine will get ready for finals. Many will get ready for graduation as well.

"It’s tough because these seniors really brought our program a lot of positives," Shoji said, while Hartong and Uiato sat silently next to him, trying not to cry. "It’s tough to end like this. They’ve got to be proud about what they brought to UH and our program. We are going to miss them a lot. They were so positive, they worked hard and there was no attitude. … We’re going to miss them a lot."

The Cougars move on, trying to keep whatever it was they found in front of Hawaii’s fans going for two more weeks.

"It was very loud in there," said BYU’s Tambre Haddock, who had 11 kills and passed to near perfection. "But looking at the girls next to you, it was easy to stay in our little bubble on our side and not let the crowd affect us."

The Cougars were so good that nothing mattered Saturday.

"I’m just ecstatic for these kids, this team …," Olmstead said. "The kids were unbelievable. They stuck to the game plan.

"I felt really good with our practice. I liked the energy in the gym. The kids were not stressed out. They came in with nothing to lose and it showed."

It was the first time in three tries that the Cougars have ended the Wahine’s season in the NCAA tournament. They accomplished it with a practically flawless performance, holding UH to the fewest points in rally-scoring history for a home match.

For the short night, the 21st-ranked Cougars hit .340 and had but eight hitting errors. Hawaii had eight in the first set, and the second.

There would be nine in the final set, when desperation set in and the BYU block — sixth-best in the country — had suffocated everyone but Hartong, who had 17 of her team’s 41 kills.

The Cougars missed just one serve all night. The Wahine missed just two, but would have needed a deck full of aces to somehow slow the BYU offense. They got 12 Friday against Idaho State, but none when they needed them most.

Hawaii played great in the opening set, but BYU went somewhere beyond. The Cougars had just two hitting errors and scored eight of the last 12 points to finally pull away.

Hartong had seven kills in the set, all but one in a ferocious 10-serve flurry mid-set. BYU got five each from Alexa Gray — who finished with 13 — and Haddock, and hit .371.

Instead of cooling off, the Cougars only got hotter in Set 2. They stuffed three balls in the first four serves. Hawaii called its first timeout trailing 6-1 and its second down 16-8 and subbed liberally.

BYU hit .333 in this one, with just three hitting errors — two in the Wahine’s late four-point flurry that made it look closer than it was.

There would be none of that in the third, when Hawaii hit .025 and got stuffed four more times — three in the first eight points.

"Their block was huge," Uiato said. "Our hitters sometimes got trapped. There were lots of things we could have done differently, but like Dave said, you’ve got to give them credit."

NOTES

Eighth-seeded Nebraska’s sweep of Oregon all but assured the Cornhuskers of winning the attendance title this year. Hawaii has led the nation in attendance since moving into Stan Sheriff Center in 1994. It holds a small lead over Nebraska, but with the numbers ranked by total attendance, the ‘Huskers should pass them next week when they host another regional.

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces).

Service Aces — Brigham Young 4 (Godfrey 2, Robison, Welling). Hawaii none. Service errors — Brigham Young 1 (Robison). Hawaii 2 (Hartong, Mendoza). Assists — Brigham Young 42 (Godfrey 35, Parker 4, Haddock 2, Jardine). Hawaii 40 (Uiato 33, Higgins 4, Hartong 2, Manu-Olevao). T — 1:26. Officials — Margie Ray, Robert Okamura. A — not reported.