Photo Gallery: Sports Extra: UH vs. USC

Another instant classic.

But what did you expect?

When Hawaii and USC meet in volleyball it’s like Alabama and LSU in football — except there’s plenty of scoring. And, similarly, maybe the team that played the best for most of the game doesn’t win it.

UH scored five more points than USC on Friday at the Stan Sheriff Thunderdome, but the Women of Troy got the ones they needed at the right time.

The Wahine appeared to have this one in their grasp. They led 2-1 in sets. Brittany Hewitt had neutralized the big Trojan block (blocks after three sets: Hewitt 10, USC 9). Kanani Danielson and Jane Croson were in a groove, and the UH role players were taking their turns stealing the show.

If someone had told me prior that Hawaii would outblock USC for the match (15-14), I’d say we’d be looking at another sellout tonight and Wahine vs. Pepperdine in the regional final.

But a seesaw fourth set showed that USC was not about to cave in to the Wahine and their full house … even after Danielson’s kill made it 23-22, Hawaii. But a rare mental error by the senior captain gave USC the set-winner, as she let Sara Shaw’s serve drop in front of the back line.

“When you’re in that moment a lot of things go through your mind,” said Danielson, who played a strong match otherwise with 21 kills. “Just one of those things that happen and you go forward.”

Which the Wahine did, not giving up in the 15-point fifth despite falling behind in it early. Hewitt kept the Wahine alive, but it ended up being too much Alex Jupiter for Hawaii to handle at key points. Her 33 kills helped make up for the unexpected blocking edge by the Wahine.

But UH had shut her down early. “I was stuck in the state of mind of pounding (the ball), but my coach (Mick Haley) snapped me out of it,” Jupiter said.

She owned the fifth set with eight kills.

“You don’t keep a player like that down,” UH coach Dave Shoji said. “It was a matter of time before she straightened out.”

AFTERWARD, MORE THAN one person commented that this was the real national championship match, even though that technically won’t be played until next week and a few time zones east in San Antonio. It’s easy to believe USC will be there, judging by how it responded after being down to its last two points in an arena where nearly 10,000 had their opponents’ back.

Going into this, I felt like Hawaii had a 50-50 chance of winning. That is, before I conferred with three people who have had their eyes on UH volleyball and the national scene all season. They said Hawaii would beat USC 42, 38 and 30 percent of the time, even in this arena.

But one of the pundits added that, “Seniors are priceless,” in this situation. True, especially senior All-Americans. USC has three of them — Jupiter, setter Kendall Bateman and Lauren Williams.

If anyone had a right to complain about the seeding, it was Haley. But his postmatch comments were anything but. He thanked the NCAA for sending his team here, and Hawaii for hosting. You get the feeling he realizes that anything down the road after this shouldn’t be a problem for the Women of Troy.

Shoji expressed his displeasure with a final-four quality match between two teams who belong in it meeting in the round of 16.

“The seventh and 10th best teams in the country,” he said. “That’s a joke.”

Yes, it is. But the Wahine would have had the last laugh if they’d won. And either way, the Hawaii fans got to see the match of the year.