"We have a bunch of talent but we've been missing something until recently," said Hawaii senior Jason Ring. "We were jumping all around, looked like a bunch of idiots celebrating, but we were looking for something.
"We were made to search even deeper and we found something special. It's all about chemistry and that's the main ingredient. It's like putting chocolate into chocolate chip cookies. That's what makes the Rainbows right now."
And that's what has made Hawaii successful in its last five matches, including Saturday's 15-7, 15-5, 15-13 nonconference victory over Loyola Marymount. The 10th-ranked Rainbows look to continue their winning streak against unranked Rutgers-Newark in 7 p.m. matches Friday and Saturday.
"For us, it's been a matter of gaining some confidence," said Ring, who put down a match-high 16 kills against the Lions Saturday. "I don't think it's any one thing or person that has made a difference in the past few weeks. When the team gets better, the individuals get better. We've been playing hard as a team and, when we do that, no one can beat us.
"We've found ourselves, have an identity now, a special kind of glue that will keep us together, especially with some tough games on the road coming up."
After taking on the Raiders of the Eastern Intercollegiate Volleyball Association, the Rainbows travel to California for Mountain Pacific Sports Federation matches at Stanford, April 1-2, and at Pacific, April 4-5. Hawaii (13-7, 7-6) is 2-1/2 games behind Pacific Division-leading Stanford and 1-1/2 games ahead of fifth-place Pacific in the fight for a playoff berth.
"Rutgers-Newark is another chance for us to get better as players and better as a team," said Hawaii blocker Sivan Leoni, who added 8 kills and 8 blocks against LMU. "Absolutely, we are a better team than we were three weeks ago and I think we're on the right track."
If there is anything that the Rainbows need to improve upon, it's the production from left-side hitters Aaron Wilton and Naveh Milo. Milo had 14 kills and hit .476 Saturday but Wilton has been well below his All-American numbers from a year ago, hitting just .050 Saturday with 6 kills and 5 errors in 20 attempts.
"We'll use these next two matches to iron out some things, like our location and getting our left-sides more involved," said Hawaii coach Mike Wilton. "Curt (Vaughan) will readily agree to say that it's been a problem, getting those high, outside sets to Aaron and Naveh. Both those guys should be hitting .300-plus every night for us
"Rutgers-Newark will be at least as good as Loyola Marymount. They've been getting beat up (during a recent California trip) but they have some guys who can really play."
Rutgers-Newark lost to Stanford, CSU Northridge and Long Beach State two weeks ago.
Against the Lions, Hawaii was able to go to its bench and give some of the lesser-used players court time. One was senior Gavin Cook, who had two kills in four swings during Game 3.
"It's hard, of course, not playing much, but I understand my role," said the Maryknoll High product. "I keep working hard until I do get a chance to get in and help.
"We've been searching for something and -- I hate to mention it -- but after losing Yuval (Katz), it was hard to live up to the expectations. Now, I really feel that we're on our way back up."
NOTE: Sivan Leoni is getting married on April 13 to Paula Bruhn, the day after Hawaii plays its final regular-season match against Southern Cal.