Cooking at home

Wahine celebrate their return to Sheriff Center by brushing aside No. 13 New Mexico State

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Welcome home.

After nearly three weeks without a home match, the No. 11-ranked Hawaii volleyball team made a triumphant return to the Stan Sheriff Center last night. Jamie Houston had a match-high 19 kills and the Rainbow Wahine extended their conference home winning streak to 106 via a 30-26, 30-28, 30-22 sweep of No. 13 New Mexico State.

Hawaii    NMSU 3 0 Next Up vs. Louisiana Tech tomorrow

It was the first time since the Aggies joined the Western Athletic Conference in 2005 that the match did not go to at least four games.

It was also only the third time that New Mexico State (19-4, 10-2 WAC) had lost 3-0; the others were against then-No. 6 Texas and at No. 1 Texas. The Aggies' other loss came last month in Las Cruces, N.M., when the Wahine won in five.

It was Hawaii's ninth sweep of the season, improving the Wahine's record to 17-4 overall, 11-0 in the WAC.

The Wahine, who are closing in on their 12th straight conference title, host Louisiana Tech (6-19, 1-11) tomorrow at 5 p.m.

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They were prepared to go three -- as in 3 hours. Instead, it only went three games.

With surprising efficiency and a block to match, No. 11 Hawaii stuffed the upset dreams of No. 13 New Mexico State last night in an hour and 50 minutes. Senior Juliana Sanders was in on nine of the team's season-high 17.5 blocks and sophomore Amber Kaufman added seven as the Rainbow Wahine swept the Aggies 30-26, 30-28, 30-22 in front of a 7,538, the largest Stan Sheriff Center crowd of the year.

The victory pushed Hawaii (17-4, 11-0) closer to its 12th Western Athletic Conference title, while New Mexico State (19-4, 10-2) can only hope to regroup in time for the anticipated rematch in Las Cruces, N.M., in the WAC tournament title match next month.

"This was the response we wanted," said Hawaii coach Dave Shoji, referring to last Sunday's disappointing 3-0 defeat at No. 1 Nebraska. "Everyone was determined to play better and they did."

Particularly determined for the Wahine was junior Jamie Houston, who had a match-high 19 kills and was basically untouchable all night. She had eight kills and one error in Game 1, and had one miscue the rest of the way, hitting .472.

But it was Hawaii's block that unnerved New Mexico State more than anything else. The Wahine took away the Aggies' favorite shots, slowed some of the most effective hitters in the conference ... and did it with some of the smallest players on the Hawaii roster; Kaufman, at 6-feet and setter Stephanie Brandt at 5-9.

"We did what Mike (associate coach Sealy) told us to do," said Kaufman, whose seventh kill gave Hawaii match point at 29-22. "It was a matter of executing and we did.

"I wrote on our board tonight that we needed to show up. We showed up."

And it started at the beginning. After yielding a match-opening ace by Alyssa Gintant, the Wahine scored four straight to take the Game 1 lead for good.

The Aggies' strongest challenge came in Game 2 when tying it at 28-28. But a service error by Kim Oguh and a kill by Kaufman gave the Wahine a 2-0 lead at the break.

It was 10-10 in Game 3 and then it was over as Brandt served Hawaii to an 18-10 lead. NMSU answered with a 6-0 run of its own to close to 20-18, but another service error and a stuff of Lindsey Yon by Kaufman and Brandt helped send the Wahine to a victory.

Yon finished with 15 kills to lead the Aggies and Krista Altermatt added 10.

"The difference tonight was when they blocked us, the balls went down," NMSU coach Mike Jordan said. "And when we blocked them, the balls came back up.

"And we have got to be the worst-serving team in the conference, certainly the worst-serving team I've ever had. We had six serving errors in Game 3 alone and that's not going to help you win."

Conversely, Hawaii served tough and smart, with three aces and four errors. Brandt had two aces, targeting Yon on most serves.

"That's what I was told to do," she said. "Our goal was 'three.' Three games, not 3 hours."

Last month against the Aggies, Hawaii pulled out a five-game marathon in 3 hours and 3 minutes. In that match, NMSU had 17.5 blocks to Hawaii's 13; last night, the Aggies had seven.

"We were composed and focused tonight," Houston said.