BALANCING ACT GETS UCLA FINAL BRUINS TO MEET NO. 1 LONG BEACH ST. UCLA 3, HAWAII 1.

Byline: Daily News Staff and Wire Reports

LONG BEACH - UCLA used an all-around attack to offset the stunning one-woman show of Hawaii's Kim Willoughby to eliminate the Wahine in a Sweet 16 match of the NCAA women's volleyball tournament Thursday at the Pyramid.

Willoughby, a 6-foot sophomore from Louisiana, had 35 kills, but eighth-seeded UCLA had four players with double-figure kills to defeat ninth-seeded Hawaii 30-25, 30-28, 22-30, 30-22.

The Bruins will play host Long Beach State, which routed Northern Iowa 3-0 in Thursday's other semifinal, tonight in a regional final at 7:30 at the Pyramid. The 49ers, ranked No. 1 in the country, are 31-0 and bidding to become only the second team in NCAA history to finish a season undefeated. Tonight's winner advances to the Final Four next week in San Diego.

``We had a great performance tonight,'' said UCLA head coach Andy Banachowski. ``We had huge blocks at important times and had some great performances from freshmen coming off of the bench. We blocked well tonight and that will be key against a powerful team like Long Beach.''

Key for the No. 14-ranked Bruins was their ability to control the net, outblocking Hawaii 16-3. UCLA's play at the net also shut down Hawaii's offense. The Wahine hit just .168 and Willoughby was slightly better, hitting .193 in 88 swings. UCLA also had just 15 hitting errors, three fewer than Willoughby and 20 fewer than the Wahine.

Kristee Porter led UCLA with 16 kills, Ashley Bowles had 11 and Lauren Fendrick and Angela Eckmier each had 10.

Maja Gustin was the only other Hawaii player in double figures with 16.

The Bruins won the first two games 30-25 and 30-28. After losing Game 3 30-22, UCLA clinched the match 30-22.

Leading 17-16 in Game 4, UCLA pulled away with five consecutive points, two by freshman Brittany Ringel, who didn't play in the first three games.

After a service error, the Bruins scored five points in a row for a 27-18 lead. Hawaii pulled within 27-21, but Porter responded with a cross-court kill and she and Eckmier blocked Willoughby to lead 29-21. Porter then knocked down a cross-court shot for the Bruins' 28th point. Porter and Eckmier blocked a blast by Willoughby to make it 29-21. Bowles' line shot done the left side ended the match.

With the Game 3 tied 9-9, the Wahine won six points in a row and all were scored by Willoughby.

For UCLA (21-8), it will be the Bruins' 13th appearance in the regional final. Hawaii finished 29-6.

--Long Beach State 3, Northern Iowa 0: Cheryl Weaver had 12 kills to lead the undefeated and No. 1 49ers to a 30-19, 30-21, 30-14 victory at the Pyramid, improving their record to 31-0.

Molly O'Brien had 10 kills for Northern Iowa (31-2).