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Nothing left in
Wahine’s magic hat

SO this was the rematch, and the true level of Washington's abilities would come as no shock to Hawaii, this time. And Washington knew the Rainbow Wahine were coming out with both jaw and fist firmly clenched.

So we were going to see what this UH team was made of, coming out after having been rocked off the court the night before.

And what Washington's ingredients were, coming back and having to do it all over again after having awoken a giant, an elite program, one of the nation's greatest collegiate volleyball teams, on its home floor.

It would be like two rams slamming into each other, like on "Marty Stouffer's 'Wild America.' "

And, yeah, UH came out "Rocky"-punching. Slamming. Swinging. Looking for an early knockout. And the blaring crowd responded in kind.

The momentum was rolling. The blood flowing.

And this time it was Washington that seemed stunned. Reeling. Punch-drunk. Caught flat-footed, standing there as the ball fell to Earth peacefully, surrounded by purple.

This was the first 25 minutes.

And then Washington was Washington. Its bangers banged and its blockers blocked and its diggers dug and its setter set. And as fired up as Hawaii was (a Juliana Sanders roof made the place vibrate), at the end of Game 1, it was still 30-28, U-Dub.

Then the 'Dogs ran out to an 8-1 lead in Game 2. Won it by 10.

Hawaii responded with a furious effort in the third game. But that verse was the same as the first. Even with all of Hawaii's emotion, even with a raucous home crowd, it was still a Huskies sweep.

Let's face it, folks, this Washington team is that good.

And UH ... isn't. Not THAT good.

Not last night. Not now. Not yet.

"We're going to have tough situations in the WAC," Wahine coach Dave Shoji would say, "but not like tonight."

Hawaii is a top-10 team, definitely. Top 2? That's another level out there.

And so these Rainbow Wahine continue to stand in the shadow of their former selves -- that wonderful, magical, miraculous team that went 30-1 last year.

What's changed? Who knows? Maybe nothing. Maybe everything.

"We need to be in more of a competitive situation in practice," Shoji said.

Magic doesn't just happen, you know.

Or, then again, maybe it does. Maybe that explains it. Maybe with the right teams at the right times, maybe magic just happens.

All we know is, yes, this is a good team. But there's no magic happening. Not yet.