"It didn't go the way we thought," Brown said last night after No. 21 Notre Dame was upset at Cal State Northridge, 15-12, 13-15, 15-12, 15-9. "Volleyball is a game of errors and we made too many of them. We hit 14 percent.
"Not to take anything away from Northridge. They did a nice job. But we basically beat ourselves."
Losing is not a habit Brown wants her team to get into at the halfway point of the season. Notre Dame (13-6) got off to a shaky start after all-conference setter Carey May dislocated her shoulder before the season began.
May, ranked 12th nationally in assists last season, is back setting to four other returning starters, including the 1995 Big East Player of the Year, senior hitter Jenny Birkner. But the Irish are still looking for the same rhythm that led to a 27-7 record and the conference title last season.
"I feel like we're kind of in our preseason since we just got Carey back," said Brown, whose other losses have been to Stanford, Penn State, Ball State, Illinois State and Louisville. "We're still trying to get things ironed out on our side of the net. It doesn't really matter what the opponents are doing because we're trying to find our rhythm.
"What's disappointing about the loss (to Northridge) is we had been getting better and better. We're still looking to find a balance. Against Hawaii, we just want to play well and compete with the No. 1 team in the country."
Hawaii (20-0 overall, 9-0 WAC) is just looking for a challenge. The Wahine finally dropped a set in WAC competition last week (at San Diego State) after sweeping their first six conference opponents in straight sets.
Hawaii ran its road winning streak to 15 last week with victories at San Diego State, UNLV and Air Force. In remaining one of only two undefeated teams in the country - the other is No. 4 Long Beach State (19-0) - the Wahine are 60-5 in games.
"We're looking forward to the competition and we're going to have to step up our play," said Hawaii junior hitter Therese Crawford. "We're coming off a long road trip, haven't had a day off and that will add to the challenge of playing a good team."
Notre Dame could be the tallest team Hawaii faces this season. The Irish middles measure 6-4 and 6-5, including Crawford's former club teammate Jennifer Briggs.
"This will be the first time we'll see two legitimate middle blockers," said Wahine coach Dave Shoji. "We're going to have to have a balanced attack so they can't load up on any of our players.
"They may try to load up on Angelica (All-American middle Ljungquist) but I think she can still get her kills.
"What that should do is open it up for our outside hitters. For us to win this weekend, and against Stanford (Nov. 2), both of our left-side hitters (Crawford and Joselyn Robins) have to be on."
The Hawaii-Notre Dame series is tied 1-1.
The teams split at Klum Gym back in 1992. It was the only season that Hawaii fell out of the Top 25 poll and did not advanced to postseason play.
"This Hawaii team is very different from the one in 1992," said Brown. "And we're playing in a different venue. We're looking forward to playing in front of a big crowd.
"No one in the world expects us to win, which takes some of the pressure off," added Brown.
"I think it's a good situation for our team to be in right now."
When: Tomorrow and Friday: No. 21 Notre Dame (13-6) at No. 1 Hawaii (20-0), 7:10 p.m.
Where: Special Events Arena.
Broadcasts: Live on KFVE-TV (Channel 5) and KCCN (1420-AM) both nights.