The Silverswords out-dug the Sea Warriors, 92-70, in front of a noisy crowd of 550 at McCabe Gym to pull out a 15-11, 15-4, 12-15, 13-15, 15-9 win after two hours and 30 minutes. In the HIAC opener Monday night at St. Andrew's Priory, HPU had 95 digs to Chaminade's 62 in a five-set match that lasted 2:20.

Defense wasn't the only deciding "D" for the Silverswords (4-2). Doris Bikar (20) and Danielle Robins (14) combined for 34 of the team's 66 kills, Robins finishing with team highs of 10 digs, seven blocks and six service aces.

Hinano Warfield added 13 kills and 10 digs and Cecilia Williams had 11 kills and 19 digs for the Silverswords. The Sea Warriors were led by Doreen Fiaui's 13 kills and 16 digs, and 12 digs and 12 kills from Benji Maiava.

The teams meet again next week, HPU hosting at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 19, and Chaminade hosting at 7:30 p.m. Sept. 20.

ONCE NOT ENOUGH: Penn State dispelled any doubts regarding its No. 1-ranking last weekend when the Nittany Lions defeated defending NCAA champion Stanford for the second time in three weeks.

Penn State (6-0) topped the Cardinal, 14-16, 15-6, 15-12, 15-7, Saturday. The Nittany Lions retained the top spot in yesterday's AVCA/USA Today Top 25, capturing 59 of 60 first-place votes.

Florida (6-0) remained No. 2 with Long Beach State (6-0) moving into third with the last first-place vote. Stanford (4-2) slipped to fourth, followed by Nebraska (5-1), Washington State (7-0), UC Santa Barbara (5-0), Pacific (5-1), Southern Cal (5-0) and Brigham Young (4-3).

Hawaii (5-1) fell two spots to No. 13. The biggest drop was by Texas (3-1), which went from eighth to 13th after getting swept by BYU.

DOUBLE LOSS: Pacific lost to Nebraska at last weekend's First Bank Invitational, 15-12, 15-6, 12-15, 10-15, 17-15. The Tigers also lost All-American hitter Elsa Stegemann for the season.

Stegemann tore her left anterior cruciate ligament on her 20th kill of the match against the Cornhuskers. She was helped from the court with the Tigers winning, 14-13; Nebraska came back to win the game and the 2 hour, 40 minute match, 17-15.

Honolulu's Fiona Nepo, the Cornhuskers' setter, was named the MVP of the tournament.

The Tigers face Pepperdine at the Special Events Arena Saturday at 2 p.m., then renew their rivalry with Hawaii at 4 p.m. Sunday. The Wahine lead the intense rivalry with UOP, 31-23.

FAN-TASTIC: Wahine Fever continues another season with Hawaii leading the nation in attendance for a fourth straight year.

The Wahine are drawing an average of 7,254 fans this year compared to its 1996 national record average of 8,378. Hawaii (5-1) has drawn the top six crowds nationally, led by the 8,344 that watched last Sunday's loss to UCLA.

STATISTICALLY SPEAKING: Hawaii's Cia Goods leads the WAC in blocks with a 1.95 average. The senior middle is also tied for ninth in hitting percentage (.324) with Wahine teammate Jenny Roberts.

UH senior Therese Crawford ranks third in the conference in kills (4.89), behind BYU's Amy Steele Gant (5.50) and Kelly Smith of Rice (4.89).

As a team, the Wahine are second in hitting percentage to San Diego State (.276-.284). Hawaii is also third in blocking, digs and assists and fourth in kills.

Four of the top five WAC hitting percentages in individual matches belong to Hawaii players: Roberts (.684 vs. Kansas State), Crawford (.680 vs. Kansas State), Goods (.619 vs. Houston) and Heidi Ilustre (.609 vs. North Carolina).

ATTENTION GETTER: Brigham Young's Steele Gant, a 6-foot-1 senior middle blocker, was named the AVCA Division I national player of the week.

Gant averaged 6 kills and 1.75 blocks per game in eight games to lead the Cougars to the title of the BYU Mizuno Classic. The Cougars defeated No. 18 Washington, Oral Roberts and No. 8 Texas, all in straight sets, last weekend.

Gant was also the WAC's Mountain Division player of the week. Hawaii's Cia Goods was nominated for the Pacific Division honor, which went to San Diego State's Martina Vitkova-Engles.

MAKING STRIDES: UNLV, coached by former Wahine All-American Deitre Collins, has already won as many matches this season as it did in all of last year.

The Lady Rebels are 5-1 after last weekend's All-Star Cafe UNLV Classic. In 1996, UNLV finished 5-22.

TCU has already surpassed its number of wins from last season. The VolleyFrogs were 4-30 in 1996 and are currently 5-3.