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Hawaii runs conference streak to 103

UH beats Idaho for its ninth three-game victory in a row

Efficiency tempered with controlled emotion. It's Hawaii's way of enjoying the competition while staying focused on the business of winning.

Hawaii: 3 Idaho: 0 Next Up at Utah State, Wednesday

And if the No. 9 Rainbow Wahine were looking for a CEO -- a Chief Energy Officer -- they need look no further than Tara Hittle. The sophomore threw herself a belated birthday party last night, finishing with 11 kills and a solid all-around game to help Hawaii sweep Idaho 30-18, 30-23, 30-23 at the Stan Sheriff Center in 90 minutes.

A crowd of 5,790 (7,566 tickets) saw Hawaii win for the 12th straight time, extending its Western Athletic Conference winning streak to 103 in regular-season play, 118 including the WAC tournament. It was also the ninth consecutive sweep for the Wahine (18-6, 12-0), who have not dropped a game since rallying at New Mexico State in five Oct. 1, a run of 30 in a row.

"The sweep thing is nothing we think about. We just want to play well every time out," said Hittle, who turned 20 on Oct. 25. "Not that I've been struggling, it's just I haven't been having as good a season as I had hoped for.

"Tonight, I thought we did a nice job of passing and Kanoe (setter Kamana'o) did a good job with the offense."

The Wahine hit .372 for the night, with 10 errors. Junior outside Sarah Mason continued her dominance on the right side with a match-high 12 kills with no errors in 19 swings in two games and hitting .692.

Senior Victoria Prince, playing all three games, and freshman Jamie Houston, coming in late in Game 2, had identical stats: seven kills with one error in 12 attempts. Prince was also in on seven of the team's 14 blocks, while Kamana'o was in on five.

Amanda Bowman led the Vandals (13-12, 5-7) with 11 kills. It was the first trip to Honolulu for Idaho since joining the WAC. The last trip was in 2003, when the Wahine ended the Vandals' season in the first round of the NCAA tournament.

"This is just an awesome place to play," said Bowman, who made the trip two years ago as a freshman but didn't see any playing time. "The crowd cheers for good volleyball. I think it's the next-best place to play after our home."

The Vandals didn't start feeling comfortable until Game 2, when they more than hung with the Wahine. Idaho was very effective with the tip shot en route to earning a 20-20 tie.

Prince's fifth kill sparked a 4-0 Wahine run that was capped by a stuff by Kamana'o and Juliana Sanders on Bowman for the team's ninth block of the match. Erin Curtis kept the Vandals alive with two kills that helped her team pull to 25-22. The Wahine closed it out with a 5-1 streak that included the newly inserted Houston putting down both of her attempts.

"Nothing really changed at 20-20," Hittle said. "Idaho was playing well. There was a small sense of urgency, one of 'Oh, come on, let's get going.' "

Hawaii coach Dave Shoji was able to toy with his lineup for Game 3, even putting reserve setter Cayley Thurlby on the outside. The Hawaii offense wasn't as smooth as it had been, but every time Idaho made a charge, the Wahine were able to repel it.

"I thought Hawaii played better than the last time we saw them," Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan said of the contest in Moscow on Oct. 13. "We got aced too many times (five) and we didn't block the way we have been. (To win) Game 2, we needed to block some more balls."

The Vandals had come in averaging 2.36 blocks per game. They had a total of three for the match.

"I thought we had a lot of energy tonight," Shoji said. "That's something we were lacking the last time we played.

"It was good to see Hittle have a good night offensively. She brings so much to the team and I hope she continues to play like that."

Hawaii takes its show on the road next week, playing at Utah State on Wednesday. The Aggies, No. 2 in the WAC at 9-3, took the then-No. 1 Wahine to five last year.

"We've got some tough games ahead and we'll have a challenging match at Utah State," Shoji said. "It's a tough place to play.

"I liked our balance tonight. We didn't get the ball to the middles as much, but our outside hitters were hot."

Hawaii is at San Jose State on Saturday before closing out the regular season at home against New Mexico State on Nov. 17 and Louisiana Tech on Nov. 19.

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