And then there was one - SEC softball team remaining in the NCAA tournament, that is.

The Tennessee Lady Vols weathered their Super Regional against a red-hot Hawaii team this weekend to advance to play Texas A&M at 7 p.m. (TV: ESPN) Thursday in the Women's College World Series.

Three-time All-American Monica Abbott (46-3) silenced the Rainbow Wahine on Friday night with a no-hitter in a 9-0 win before the Lady Vols were forced to bounce back from a 9-6 loss Saturday and win a 7-1 series-clinching finale Saturday night.

"No matter what seed you are, the hardest part each year is just getting to the World Series,'' said Abbott, the NCAA's record holder for career strikeouts, wins, shutouts and appearances. "It's an honor to represent the SEC. It's unfortunate for the teams that didn't make it.''

Alabama, LSU, South Carolina and Florida all fell on the road in Super Regional action, the Gators losing to the same Aggies No. 5 seed UT plays Thursday. The only road team to win a Super Regional was DePaul, which stunned No. 3 seed Oklahoma with wins on Saturday and Sunday.

Texas A&M finished fourth in the Big 12 this season yet still drew a higher seed than SEC regular-season champion Tennessee, raising a few eyebrows.

"I thought Tennessee would be a No. 1 or a No. 2 seed, and us and LSU would be around No. 4 and No. 5 (seeds),'' Alabama coach Patrick Murphy said. "Monica's pretty tough, and it will be hard for the teams that haven't seen her.''

Abbott said the SEC has gotten better each year she's pitched, but now that the tournament has moved on to Oklahoma City, all bets are off.

"Anyone you play in the World Series is going to be tough to beat,'' Abbott said.

The Lady Vols have met Texas A&M once in school history, scoring a 5-0 win over the Aggies in a game played in Arlington, Texas, in 1997.

More Abbott: Abbott is 102/3 innings shy of tying the NCAA record for most career innings and 14 strikeouts away from tying the single-season mark for most strikeouts (664) set by Courtney Blades of Southern Miss in 2000.

Abbott is the only pitcher in NCAA history to record more than 500 strikeouts each of her four seasons.

Knoxville Heat: The Rainbow Wahine were more bothered by the weather here than they let on judging from a team blog on the Honolulu Advertiser Web site. Here are two excerpts suggesting as much:

"The heat here is almost uncomfortable at times - feeling as if your insides are being heated, rather than just your skin like back home,'' Alana Power wrote.

"The weather is very much like home, except the air is stale, like months-old bread,'' Kate Robinson put down in an entry.

The Rainbow Wahine, however, left Knoxville with class.

"We did things that this softball program has never done, and hopefully the University of Tennessee program will do the same and win a World Series championship,'' Power wrote after the final game Saturday. "(After the game) each team member from both teams stood hand in hand, foot against foot, adorned with lei congratulating each other in ways only best friends would.

"As we bowed our heads as their head coach (Ralph Weekly) led us in prayer thanking us for each other and such a well-fought battle, tears were shed in utmost respect for such an amazing tournament. I cannot begin to tell you the amount of class that was shown on that field.''