All-American setter Robyn Ah Mow goes down with an injury early against Rice. Backup setter Nikki Hubbert, who has rarely seen action in Game 2, let alone Game 1, comes in against the Owls in the first round of the Western Athletic Conference volleyball tournament.

In the surrealistic surroundings of the MGM Grand Garden last night, the scenario was scary but true. Hubbert had a dream Tuesday night that she, and not Ah Mow, would end up setting against Rice.

"It's hard to believe but I actually dreamed that I would somehow get into play,'' said Hubbert, after Hawaii swept Rice, 15-10, 15-6, 15-6, to advance to tomorrow's 4:30 p.m. semifinal with New Mexico. "When I saw her go down, it shocked me and I was hoping she would get back up. I was shocked when she didn't."

The arena crowd of 2,583 - most wearing green - was equally stunned. Ah Mow was flat on her back after slipping while going for a dig. And she wasn't getting up.

The Wahine led, 8-6, in Game 1 when Ah Mow was helped off the court with a bruised sciatica nerve in her left leg. Suddenly, there were questions about Hawaii's ability to regroup under Hubbert.

Just as suddenly, the answers were there. As they had been all season.

The stability of All-American Angelica Ljungquist. The Wahine's imposing block and impressive defense. But mostly there were no doubts about the outcome, only the concern over Ah Mow's health.

"We were worried about Robyn but we didn't have any doubts about the game," said Ljungquist, who put down a match-high 19 kills. "Nikki came in, was ready to go, and I thought she had an awesome match. I had all the confidence in the world that she would do the job. It didn't take any time at all to adjust to her.

"She came in and was on, knew what she was doing, and I think that calmed us down."

The news that it was a nerve problem and not a hamstring visibly calmed Hawaii coach Dave Shoji. His concern went beyond last night, or even tomorrow, to the possibility of three more weeks of NCAA postseason play.

"If it was a hamstring, that's 4-5 weeks recovery, and Robyn would have been out of the playoffs," said Shoji. "If she's ready for Friday, then we'll use her, but I'll leave that decision up to our trainer (Melody Toth) and Robyn. We're thinking beyond this week.

"We have a lot of confidence in Nikki, although she did play better than I expected her to in that pressure situation. She's never set a game where the outcome wasn't already decided. It's always been a mop-up role."

It was a sweet 91-minute sweep for Hubbert. There were a few miscommunications but "I think after a few sets, everyone realized we could do it without (Ah Mow)," said Hubbert. "Me and Angelica hardly ever connect on the '3' (quick set) and she had three in a row that last game. I stopped thinking about anything, just trying to get the ball to the players where they were hittable."

Hawaii hit .338 for the match to Rice's .094. Joselyn Robins added 17 kills, hitting .455 while Therese Crawford and Cia Goods each had 10 kills.

Ljungquist added 10 blocks and seven digs to go with the 19 kills. The Wahine (30-1) outblocked the Owls, 14-3.

Karolina Zelinka led Rice (16-18) with 11 kills.

"At first, Hawaii seemed a little nervous after (Ah Mow) got hurt," said Owls setter Carolyn Sarnecki. "But they adjusted very well. At times, I felt we were playing with them but I knew they were the kind of team that, at any time, they could turn it on."

The Wahine had no problem turning the arena into a home away from home. Even Warren Epps, half of the impromptu Special Events Arena dance team, was there to incite the fans with the Macarena.

In other quarterfinal matches, Kristine Butler put down 17 kills and Zhao Lu added 15 as New Mexico (18-10) eliminated Utah (20-12), 15-13 12-15, 15-9, 15-10.

"It's always fun to play against old friends and coaching rivals," Lobos coach Laurel Brassey-Iversen said of facing Shoji's Wahine. "I was very happy when Hawaii came into the WAC but disappointed that we don't meet them every year. I always want to be playing the best.

"Our key (tomorrow) might be not getting flustered against their block and defense. We got shell-shocked by BYU Saturday and Hawaii has that same kind of credibility."

Lower-seeded Fresno State and Colorado State both proved something in their matches yesterday but it wasn't enough for either to advance

Martina Vitkova had 22 kills for San Diego State (21-9) as the Aztecs subdued the Bulldogs

(21-9), 15-12, 16-14, 15-10.

The Aztecs face second-seeded BYU tomorrow. The Cougars

(23-6) won their 21st match in a row by ousting Colorado State

(21-10), 11-15, 15-9, 15-3, 15-11, after nearly two hours.

Hawaii def. Rice, 15-10, 15-6, 15-6

Rice (16-18)

		g	k	e	at	pct.	bs	ba	d
Zhang		3	6	5	28	.036	0	1	7
Case		3	6	6	23	.000	1	0	4
Sarnecki	3	3	1	8	.250	0	0	4
Cruikshank	3	5	2	20	.150	0	0	6
Sloan		3	8	5	26	.115	1	1	11
Zelinka		3	11	8	32	.094	0	0	11
Thon		3	0	0	0	.000	0	0	0
Smith		2	1	0	2	.500	0	0	1
Totals		3	40	27	139	.094	2	2	44

Hawaii (30-1)

		g	k	e	at	pct.	bs	ba	d
Crawford	3	10	5	36	.139	0	1	8
Yamashita	3	0	0	1	.000	0	0	4
Nobriga		3	3	2	11	.091	0	4	8
Ljungquist	3	19	3	33	.485	2	8	7
Ah Mow		1	0	0	1	.000	0	1	1
Robins		3	17	2	33	.455	0	1	8
Hubbert		3	0	1	3	-.333	0	3	10
Goods		1	0	0	0	.000	0	0	3
Cordray		1	0	0	3	.000	0	0	0
Lee		2	0	0	0	.000	0	0	2
Ilustre		3	3	0	4	.750	0	1	1
Totals		3	62	15	139	.338	3	18	58

Aces-RU (3): Case 1, Sarnecki 1, Sloan 1. UH (2): Crawford 1, Ljungquist 1. Assists-RU: (36): Sarnecki 33, Zhang 1, Cruikshank 1, Sloan 1. UH (57): Hubbert 44, Ah Mow 9, Ljungquist 2, Nobriga 1, Crawford 1.

A-2,583. T-1:31.