There were only two questions Nevada volleyball coach Devin Scruggs had about Hawaii this week, both of which were answered Thursday night.

» The ninth-ranked Rainbow Wahine controlled their match at Utah State, shaking off the altitude, the Aggies and the angst from Sunday's confidence-rattling loss to New Mexico State with a 25-18, 25-18, 25-18 sweep in Logan, Utah. Her Wolf Pack couldn't hold on at Utah State two weeks ago, losing in five, including an 18-16 loss in Set 5.

» Freshman hitter Kanani Herring had her best match since spraining her ankle more than three weeks ago, finishing with 12 kills and hitting .391 with an ace and three block assists. It was the first time Herring was able to play a full match—front and back row—since Sept. 20.

“;I see that Kanani is back, and that's a little disappointing,”; Scruggs said, joking. “;It would have been nice for us if she had taken another week to come back.

“;Our biggest thing will be to control their outside hitters. (Jamie) Houston and Herring are putting up some pretty nice numbers, and we can't let their middles have All-American numbers against us.

“;And if Hawaii plays defense like I know they can, we'll have a tough time.”;

It hasn't been an easy season for Nevada (9-9, 4-4 Western Athletic Conference). The Wolf Pack have had some tough losses, dropping three five-set matches to punctuate a five-match losing streak.

Since then, Nevada has won four straight. Thanks to the quirky WAC schedule. The Pack are coming off consecutive 3-1 wins over Fresno State, coached by former Nevada player Lauren Netherby-Sewell, in her first year with the Bulldogs.

Nevada pulled away Thursday with a 23-25, 25-21, 27-25, 25-11 victory. There were some anxious moments in Set 3 as the Pack trailed 24-20 and had to hold off four set points—the last at 25-24—before using a 3-0 run to win it.

“;We got lucky,”; Scruggs said. “;They made some errors and we were able to get some key kills.

“;I think we've picked up some momentum after losing five in a row.”;

Both Hawaii prep products on the Nevada roster are contributing this season. Sophomore hitter Kylie Harrington (St. Francis '07) has started all 18 matches and leads the team in kills (2.94 kps), while freshman setter Tatiana Santiago (Kamehameha '08) has played sparingly in 16 matches.

Hawaii coach Dave Shoji anticipates the usual tough match at Nevada. The Wahine have struggled with the vagaries of the Virginia Street Gym (1,800), losing in five in their first appearance there in 1992 and nearly losing in five in 2004.

“;Nevada is always competitive, always tough in their gym,”; Shoji said. “;We haven't seen a lot of tape on them, but if we take care of our side of the net, things will work out.

“;I thought we got back on track (at Utah State), passed well, ran our offense like we can, didn't get aced. And it was nice to have Kanani back. She's almost 100 percent, if not 100 percent.”;

And, unlike Sunday when Shoji substituted in hopes of getting something going against New Mexico State, all 12 Wahine saw the Dee Glenn Smith Spectrum on Thursday by design. That included junior middle Cat Fowler, on her first road trip, finishing with four block assists after coming in in Set 3.

“;Cat's a good blocker, she did what we needed her to do,”; Shoji said. “;We need everyone to get game experience. You never know when you're going to need someone to go in.”;