TAMPA, Fla. — In the early semifinal yesterday, second-ranked Texas ran away from 13th-ranked Minnesota at the end of each set to advance to its first national final since 1995.

The scores were 25-19, 25-20, 25-15. The Longhorns (29-1) scored 17 of the final 20 points.

Texas All-American Destinee Hooker had 17 kills and hit .342. Minnesota All-American Lauren Gibbemeyer was held to eight kills and .120 hitting.

Punahou graduate Sydney Yogi, a sophomore defensive specialist for Texas, had four digs and was serving during the Longhorns' final surge.

"I was struggling a little with my passing tonight," Yogi said. "So I thought if I can't pass well, I'll just have to serve well."

NOT THE BEST

A trip to the national championship served to make volleyball fans from Hawai'i appreciate what they have even more. The final four suffered from a lack of fans and several logistical problems unheard of at Stan Sheriff Center.

The St. Pete Times Forum holds 21,000 in three levels and the lower level wasn't close to full last night, though attendance was announced at 10,246.

The arena was originally called The Ice Palace, for good reason. Court level was so cold it felt as if the hockey rink was still in place.

The arena also came with a maze of specialized entrances that were nearly impossible to understand — even for those who worked at the Forum.

One long-running problem that had nothing to do with the site was ESPN's insistence on keeping two cameramen in chairs on the court. They blocked the view of at least two rows of people there to report the action. Worse yet, their court coverage is not nearly as good as KFVE's, which doesn't block anyone's view. There were also no live statistics on press row — a given at UH matches.

The place was also missing Hawai'i's band— the only one not to make the trip. UH athletics director Jim Donovan said the lowest fare he could get for a big group was $2,200 apiece, and the school obviously could not afford it.

In basketball, the NCAA pays for bands to travel.

'BOWS A BETTER DRAW

A total of 100,064 tickets have been issued for the tournament going into the final night. That means the NCAA's premier volleyball event will draw fewer people than Hawai'i drew during the regular season — 128,457 in 20 home matches.

Penn State has won all five matches against Hawai'i. This was the first time the schools met in NCAA Tournament play.

BRANDT HONORED

University of Hawai'i senior Stephanie Brandt has earned The Elite 88 Award for Division I volleyball. The award was founded by the NCAA and is presented to the student-athlete with the highest cumulative grade point average participating at the finals for each of the NCAA's 88 championships.

It recognizes "the true essence of the student-athlete by honoring the individual who has reached the pinnacle of competition at the national championship level in his or her sport, while also achieving the highest academic standard among his or her peers."

Brandt, from Irvine, Calif., has a 3.82 GPA in Sociology, with a Spanish minor. She is planning to graduate in May.

She was named to the all-WAC second team as a sophomore and was all-WAC Tournament in 2007 and 2008. Brandt was also named to the 2006 Big West All-Freshman team, when she was UC Santa Barbara's starting setter. She is a two-time Academic all-WAC honoree.