Kim Willoughby was named the Challenge's Most Outstanding Player for the second straight year. Willoughby rallied from a ragged first game to finish with 25 kills and 17 digs. Lauren Duggins had a career high 17 kills — on .565 hitting — and Lily Kahumoku added 16 before a crowd of 6,132 at Stan Sheriff Center.

While they were the constant again for Hawai'i (7-1), reserves Karin Lundqvist, a senior from Sweden, and Alicia Arnott, a freshman out of La Pietra, might have been the spark that ultimately torched the Tigers (3-1). UH coach Dave Shoji brought them in to finish off Game 2 and stayed with them because they were playing so well.

"Dave made some great adjustments in Games 3 and 4 with his subs," UOP coach Jayne McHugh said. "I've been in Lundqvist's shoes — you're that third middle even though you're really good. You just have to wait your turn and make the most of it and she did a pretty nice job of that tonight.

"Alicia is going to be a very good player. She's a lot like our young hitters. She doesn't quite get the picture of when you take the big swing and when you take the smart swing."

Pacific, whose only senior is second-team All-American Jennifer Joines, came here after beating a ranked team for the first time in more than a year. Hawai'i, which has seven seniors, has not lost to an unranked team in six years.

But in the first game, the young team made the old team look restless.

LAUREN DUGGINS

"It was like we were trying to force the rhythm," Lundqvist said. "It didn't work out. We talked about it during the 10-minute break (between Games 2 and 3) and that cleared it up a lot. We needed to be more relaxed, and more talk."

Game 1 was tied for the 11th and last time at 21. After that, Pacific simply kept the ball in play with many of its 61 digs. It was more than enough against the bumbling 'Bows, who struggled to pass UOP's jump serves, failed to communicate on simple plays and never blocked a ball.

UH didn't get its first stuff until the 21st point of the second game. That, and a sloppy UOP start, gave Hawai'i a 13-8 edge. It held that lead, despite more lapses, because it finally formed a wall. The Rainbow Wahine stuffed UOP four times and were particularly tough on Joines, who hit zero (4 kills, 4 errors).

Lundqvist subbed for Maja Gustin in the final front-row rotation and put down a quick kill and block. She finished with five of the 'Bows' nine blocks.

"Karin is a real solid blocker," Shoji said. "She doesn't get real high but she's got good hand position and she just got in front of Joines and bothered her."

Lundqvist started the season-opener but has been on the bench since. Apparently she spent much of her "free" time contemplating the future of her final season.

"It's going to sound weird, but lately we've been talking about what is our passion for playing," said Lundqvist. "I can feel support from my family, almost see my dad sitting up there. When I'm in there I play for fun and to do the things I like to do. I like to block. I like to get a kill."

Hawai'i has been strangely unpredictable early in the season. Shoji put part of the blame on a match-heavy first three weeks that left little time for fine-tuning.

"After the first game I flashed back to the UCLA match. I didn't want to go five," Shoji said. "It was pretty similar. Statistically we dominated again and even on the scoreboard it looks like an easy time out there the last three games. But it never was. It never felt easy."

Wichita State (3-3) captured third place with a 30-24, 25-30, 30-21, 30-23 victory over Baylor (3-4).

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