COLLEGE STATION, Texas >> Potential realized.

Saturday’s effort by seventh-ranked Hawaii might have been the best 89 minutes of volleyball the Rainbow Wahine had played in 28 matches this season.

The 25-22, 25-19, 25-20 sweep of 10th-seeded and 15th-ranked Texas A&M lifted unseeded Hawaii (28-1) into the third round of the NCAA tournament, one of three non-seeded teams that defied the expectations of the selection committee and one of two that will play Friday in the Des Moines, Iowa, regional. Hawaii faces two-time defending national champion Penn State (28-5), the No. 7 seed, while second-seeded Minnesota (28-4) has a conference rematch with unseeded Illinois (21-12).

The other unseeded team is Loyola Marymount (24-8) out of the West Coast Conference. The Lions upset host and eighth-seeded Stanford in Friday’s second round and meet eighth-seeded Kansas (28-2) in the San Diego regional.

The Rainbow Wahine were able to crash the all-Texas party last week. The question is: Can they crash the all-Big Ten soiree?

“I didn’t really look at the bracket until today and noticed that it’s Hawaii and the Big Ten,” Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. “I guess it is David vs. Goliath.

“There were very few upsets. I was surprised by Creighton over North Carolina and LMU had a great win (over Stanford). But at this point you play it one at a time. We’ll see Penn State. Russ (Rose) is a great coach, they’ve had a great run. I’m sure he’d like to extend that run but we want to win that match, too.”

The Nittany Lions have won six of the past nine NCAA titles, including 2009, when eliminating Hawaii in the semifinals and going on to beat Texas in five. Friday’s match will pit the sport’s two winningest coaches in Rose and Shoji.

Sunday was a “catch-up” day for Hawaii, which has become accustomed to being on lengthy road trips. On the agenda was school work, laundry, shopping and casual team activities. The Wahine are scheduled to do lifting and a light workout today, leaving for Des Moines Tuesday.

Shoji said that his staff enjoyed the view from the bench Saturday.

“It was a joy to watch,” he said. “We made some amazing plays, did things that you just can’t practice, the instinctive, bang-bang plays that we talk about doing and, if you stay ready and in the moment, you can.

“The team kept their emotions under control and that was hard because everyone was so excited that they were playing well. We told them to stay calm and play one point at a time.”

It resulted in handing the Aggies their second home loss in 15 matches in Reed Arena, the other in four to Arkansas in the SEC opener on Sept. 27. It was just the third time A&M had been swept this season, the others in the season opener at Stanford and at Florida on Oct. 10, the latter the last loss until seeing Hawaii.

“I think as a staff, when you see your team putting all the pieces together, it’s gratifying,” associate head coach Jeff Hall said. “It’s the culmination of all the hard work you’ve put in so far.

“They just played so well in all facets of the game. The staff could sit back and enjoy it. It was a beautiful thing to see.”

Both Shoji and Hall pointed to the outstanding defensive efforts of sophomore libero Savanah Kahakai (19 digs) and defensive specialist Clare-Marie Anderson as keys to the victory. Anderson had just two digs but a crucial one late in Set 3 when flying out of bounds using a left-handed stab to bring the ball back into play and allow Hawaii to convert the point.

“That’s the play of the match to me,” Hall said of Anderson’s dig. “She landed hard but brought it back. That said, ‘We are not going to lose tonight.’

“And Savanah dug (all) that came at her. Maybe her numbers weren’t a career-high but it was her best performance of the season. I gave her a hug and said that I’m super proud of her, that this is what champions do. This is how we have to play to keep advancing.”

Two of the other regionals stayed true to seed. In Austin, Texas, third-seeded Texas hosts 14 seed UCLA, with sixth-seeded Wisconsin against 11 seed Florida.

Lexington, Ky., will be a neutral site. No. 4-seeded Nebraska takes on 13 seed BYU, and fifth-seed Washington has 12 seed Ohio State.

In San Diego, top-seeded USC plays 16 seed Creighton and No. 9-seed Kansas meets unseeded LMU.