COLLEGE ROUNDUP: UCLA ADVANCES; USC OUT.

Byline: Staff and Wire Services

UCLA's women's volleyball team has called Honolulu its ``home away from home'' for the past 27 seasons, competing against Hawaii more than any other nonconference opponent during Andy Banachowski's four decades as coach.

Having already won threematches at the Waikiki Beach Challenge in September, including a sweep of the host Rainbow Wahine, the fourth-seeded Bruins made it four in a row at the Stan Sheriff Center on Friday, recording a 30-22, 30-16, 30-26 victory against No. 13 Oklahoma in the Honolulu Regional semifinals of the NCAA Tournament.

UCLA (32-3) anticipated a third showdown this season with No. 5 USC in today's regional final, but the No. 12 Rainbow Wahine had other ideas, rallying from a twogames-to-one hole and a 23-22 deficit in the fourth to prevail 28-30, 30-21, 21-30, 30-27, 15-5.

The Bruins will be competing in their third regional final in the past four years, seeking their first trip to the Final Four since 1994. The last time UCLA faced Hawaii (29-5) in the tournament was in the 2001 regional semifinals, winning in four games.

``We know the gym well and we know the lighting well. We treat it like it's our home court,'' said senior libero Colby Lyman, who recorded a match-high 19 digs against Oklahoma (28-6).

``Their fans are very respectful and they appreciate good volleyball.''

Nana Meriwether had 17 kills and eight blocks, hitting .708 in the process, as UCLA extended its winning streak to seven in a row.

Ali Daley added 11 kills and seven blocks, and Kaitlin Sather recorded 10 kills for the Bruins, who received 42 assists and 17 digs from Nellie Spicer.

USC (27-5) was seeking a rematch of its 2003 Central Regional final with UCLA, when the Women of Troy defeated the Bruins on their way to back-to-back national titles, but 22 kills from Asia Kaczor weren't enough to hold off Hawaii's late charge.

Kaczor became USC's single-season kill leader with 563, passing the 1998 mark of 554 set by Jennifer (Kessy) Boss.

Debora Seilhamer recorded 22 digs in her final match at USC to become the Pacific-10 Conference's career digs leader with 2,071. Seilhamer eclipsed the previous record of 2,064 held by UCLA's Chrissie Zartman.

Diane Copenhagen had 17kills and eight digs, Jessica Gysin added 11 kills and 19digs, and Taylor Carico recorded seven kills, 10 digs and 54 assists for USC, which fell short of reaching the Final Four for the second straight year after three consecutive trips to the national semifinals.

Jamie Houston led Hawaii with 35 kills and Sarah Mason added 24 for the Rainbow Wahine, who advanced to a regional final for the first time since 2003.

WOMEN'S BASKETBALL

UCLA 64, Delaware State 54: Noelle Quinn scored a game-high 17 points and added seven rebounds and sixassists to lead the Bruins in the opener of the Lobo Shootout in Albuquerque, N.M.

UCLA (6-4) rallied from a 30-29 halftime deficit. The Bruins will play No. 23 New Mexico, a 77-41 winner against Sam Houston State, in today's championship.

Lindsey Pluimer added 16points and seven rebounds for UCLA, and Amanda Livingston had 11 points and eight rebounds. Sophomore Chinyere Ibekwe just missed a double-double, with nine points and a team-high 11 rebounds.

A 3-pointer by Tierra Henderson with 12:48 remaining gave UCLA a 40-38 lead, which it would not relinquish.

``Delaware State is an aggressive team with a lot of quickness,'' Bruins coach Kathy Olivier said. ``We executed our defense very well and didn't allow them to penetrate.''

FOOTBALL

QB honored: Occidental quarterback Andy Collins has been named to the American Football Coaches Association NCAA Division III All-Star team and will represent the United States against Mexico in the Aztec Bowl, Dec. 16 in Aguascalientes, Mexico.

Collins, a senior from Zillah, Wash., earned the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference's Player of the Year honor for the third consecutive season, the first to do since the award's inception in 1981.

Collins ranked 12th in D-III in total offense (273.1 yards per game) and 14th in passing efficiency (153.7 rating), guiding an offense that scored 37.6 points per game.