The match was played before 6,985 in mood lighting at Stan Sheriff Center, where some lights went out early in Game 1 and the suspense soon followed.

Nevada, which lost two seniors from last season's NCAA Tournament team, has lost three more starters to injury this season. The latest came in Game 3 of Thursday's five-game loss at San Jose State, when freshman hitter Lauren Galler went out with a sprained ankle. Freshman Alyse Brush started for her last night and led the Pack in hitting percentage (.375) with three kills — two more than she had previously in her collegiate career.

"We're going to struggle until at least one of our outsides gets healthy," said Nevada coach Devin Scruggs. "We actually did some good things tonight and I was pleased with the effort. ... But when you rely on people to put balls away that aren't on the court ... we don't have the hitters to put the ball away."

The Wolf Pack (8-9, 2-2) started five underclassmen and will return every player next season. Hawai'i (15-1, 3-0 WAC) will be short seven seniors, six of whom start.

"Devin told me she can't wait to play us next year," UH coach Dave Shoji said.

But for now the Rainbows will continue to romp WAC teams. Last night Nevada looked like Fresno State and San Jose State, who preceded the Pack in Hawai'i's "uno, dos, adios" conference march.

"We just try to keep the energy up," UH's Nohea Tano said. "A lot of times the energy fades and the game starts to get slow. This wasn't one of our best matches but every match is a chance for us to get better."

The Rainbow Wahine were never threatened. All-American Kim Willoughby (17 kills, .438 hitting) was all but automatic. The rest of the 'Bows were balanced and extremely stingy on defense.

The only breakdowns came when Willoughby launched her jump serve into the side of Tano's face in Game 2, and when the fans had to stand through five aloha serves beginning at 29-20 in Game 3. UH out-hit the Wolf Pack by more than 200 points (.319 to .097) and out-dug it 53-40.

Shoji was still not happy. "We just have to keep working hard," he said. "The key is to pass because every team can serve tough. We just need to pass. Tonight we didn't pass well and that was disturbing."

Nevada played relatively well in Game 1, and lost by 10. The Wolf Pack stayed with Hawai'i in every phase but the bottom line as they failed to find a way to consistently put the ball down. Nevada had 10 kills the entire game, while Willoughby had seven, precisely her average.

The rest of the Rainbow hitters hammered at least two kills each. That balance improved in Game 2, while Nevada's offensive woes grew worse. When the 'Bows hit 20, burying eight of their first 10 swings, the Wolf Pack had 10, and only three kills. Tano went out after two games with five kills and a .714 hitting percentage.

Shoji let the substitutes loose in the final game, as soon as Maja Gustin became the 14th Rainbow Wahine to reach 1,000 kills. That came at 6-5, with the Rainbow Wahine bench chanting, "Maja, Maja, Maja." Karin Lundqvist immediately replaced her and drilled a kill.

QUICK SETS: UH plays at Boise State Thursday and UTEP Saturday. Its next home match is Oct. 16 against Louisiana Tech.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8043.