Willoughby pounded a match-high 23 kills and second-ranked Hawai'i shrugged off a slow start to sweep No. 25 Loyola Marymount, 30-27, 30-11, 30-22, last night.

A crowd of 4,562 at the Stan Sheriff Center watched Hawai'i (10-1) win the non-conference match for its ninth straight victory. Hawai'i has defeated seven of eight Top 25 teams this season under head coach Dave Shoji.

Hawai'i plays the University of Nevada-Las Vegas tonight at 7 at the Stan Sheriff Center. Loyola Marymount defeated UNLV, 30-25, 30-28, 30-26, on Thursday.

"I told Dave before the match, I felt this is the best team he's ever had, and he's had some great teams," Loyola Marymount coach Steve Stratos said. "Willoughby is the best offensive outside hitter we've ever faced in the 13 years I've been a coach. She was a one-person wrecking crew out there."

Loyola Marymount (11-2) entered last night's match with its best start in school history, and knocked the much taller Rainbow Wahine off-balance in Game 1 with defense, enthusiasm and a steady dose of Moloka'i's Kealani Kimball.

In the end, though, the Lions had no answer for Hawai'i's attack that hit .406 for the night.

"I just think we wore them down," said Shoji, whose team was outblocked 9-3. "We started to block a little better in Game 2, and just kind of dominated, which I was happy to see."

The senior Kimball, a Kamehameha Schools graduate, led Loyola Marymount with 17 kills in her first season since moving from middle blocker to outside hitter. Lily Kahumoku added 19 kills for Hawai'i.

"I thought Kea really played well," Stratos said. "In fact, I think we gave her the ball too many times (a match-high 50 attempts), which made her not as effective as she might have been. We need to get the ball to other people."

Loyola Marymount's smaller blockers could do little to slow Hawai'i's hitters. Five Hawai'i players finished hitting .350 or higher, led by Willoughby's .553 and Kahumoku's .400.

"Dave asked the team before we started to play to play on the edge, because (Loyola Marymount) is a team that if they get on a roll, they could actually beat you," Willoughby said. "The main key was to respect them. I think that was the difference. I was on the edge and I was respecting them a lot more so I played a lot harder."

Hawai'i fell into a funk in Game 1 and looked to Willoughby for relief. Willoughby responded by slamming 11 kills and hitting .588 to spark the comeback.

"I think we just got off to a shaky start," said Kahumoku, who had six kills in Game 1. "It was just a matter of coming together and saying, 'Hey let's go, let's do this, let's play a little better.' And we did."

Hawai'i trailed 7-3 and 14-12 before tying the game at 15 on Willoughby's sixth kill.

Loyola Marymount tied the game once more at 16, but saw Hawai'i score four straight, including two by Willoughby.

Willoughby didn't stop there and pounded Hawai'i's 22nd point off the face of an opponent. Loyola Marymount got as close as 29-27, but couldn't overtake the Rainbow Wahine.

"Kim, oh my gosh, she hits the ball hard," Kimball said. "We brought our helmets tonight. I was very impressed."