The Rainbow Wahine (19-1, 7-0 WAC) won the battle of division leaders, 30-25, 30-19, 30-18, over the Mustangs, but only the first game was truly in doubt.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 6,636 saw Hawai'i extend its streak of victories over WAC teams to 81 and its overall winning streak to 18. The Mustangs (15-5, 6-1) saw their school-record 10-match win streak end, but only after giving UH a peek at their potential.

SMU scored seven of the night's first nine points thanks to a nationally ranked defense that denied everything the Rainbows ripped.

"Oh my goodness," UH senior Maja Gustin said. "They are such a good defensive team, just awesome. They surprised us all the time. They are different from other WAC teams. Sometimes it was difficult to put the ball down."

The Rainbow Wahine were bothered but never bewildered. In fact, after blowing through their last 28 games with ease, they were happy to see the ball back.

"The challenge surprised us," Gustin said. "We were saying this is really a battle. It was fun."

Ultimately, Hawai'i rose to the challenge and crushed it, out-digging the Mustangs' mad diggers and showing more balance than an opponent for one of the rare times this season.

"We can play," said SMU coach Lisa Seifert, who only has one senior. "And I was proud that we came out with confidence and emotion. That's how we've played all year. Intensity and emotion have gotten us through. But as the match went on, I felt like I was begging for it.

"I don't know if it's youth as much as environment. ... We're not accustomed to playing in front of this many people. I think we embraced it, but it started to wear. You've got multiple attackers coming at you, putting balls away. You're trying to slow one or two and they've got three or four. And our hitters weren't on."

Kim Willoughby buried nine of her 17 kills in the second game for the second straight match for UH. Lauren Duggins and Gustin roamed the middle with almost no opposition. And SMU could not put the ball down. By the end, Gustin's big block and Hawai'i's acrobatic defenders even deflated Beth Karasek, who had a team-high 11 kills for SMU and a match-high 10 errors.

The Mustangs' defense held Willoughby 200 points below her average and forced seven errors. It also frustrated Lily Kahumoku, who started and played to the final rotation in the second game before Shoji rested her and her sore back, which kept her out Thursday. She finished with just three kills and three errors, but was well enough to gather 10 digs and serve two significant runs.

The Rainbows were so patient and opportunistic they actually pulled ahead in Game 1 despite having Willoughby, Kahumoku and Nohea Tano hitting negative numbers.

SMU opened with a rush, stuffing Willoughby on the first point and feeding on the frenzy to burst ahead 7-2. At that point, the Rainbow Wahine realized they were in for a fight. They relished it.

They roared back to tie it at 11 and pull in front 13-11 at the conclusion of Duggins' eight-point service run. The game was tied five more times, the last at 20, before Hawai'i pulled away with Kahumoku serving seven straight.

SMU stayed with Hawai'i to 10-all in Game 2, but was outscored 13-2 and never threatened again.

Hawai'i plays a non-conference match against Arizona (9-10) —and 2002 national Player of the Year Kim Glass — at 5 tonight. The Wildcats were ranked 10th the end of last season and this preseason, but lost five in a row to fall out of the poll.

QUICK SETS: Before last night's match, the Rainbow Wahine received bracelets commemorating their 2002 WAC Championship.