A crowd of 6,104 greeted Collins with a rousing ovation following her introduction as UNLV coach at the Stan Sheriff Center.

"I told my staff it gives me the chills," said Collins, who returned to play Hawai'i for the first time in three years and brought along her all-Hawai'i coaching staff of former UH men's volleyball player Matt Johnson and University High and Bradley graduate Erika Nash. "That always makes me feel really good."

But as with the five previous meetings, Collins' team remained winless against Hawai'i and its relentless attack that hit .454 for the match.

Hawai'i (11-1) received strong play from its reserves to win its 10th straight match. UNLV (6-5) played well early in Game 3, but couldn't outplay Hawai'i's reserves and dropped its second consecutive match.

Hawai'i All-Americans Kim Willoughby and Lily Kahumoku each played two games and tallied 15 and nine kills, respectively.

"We don't have a Willoughby or half of what they have on the starting team," said Collins, a three-time UH All-American and two-time national player of the year who led UH to back-to-back national titles in 1982 and 1983. "There were times when Kim or Lily hit over us. You can't do anything about that. That's just life."

Hawai'i freshman setter Kanoe Kamana'o ran the UH attack that hit more than .400 for the second consecutive night. Hawai'i swept No. 25 Loyola Marymount on Friday.

"We tried to run our middle hitters more in this game," said Kamana'o, who finished with 26 assists in two games. "And get everyone involved."

Hawai'i's stellar play in Games 1 and 2 allowed coach Dave Shoji to play his reserves in Game 3.

"I wanted to play a lot of people tonight only if I felt we were in control of the match," Shoji said. "After Game 2, it looked like we were. I felt comfortable putting everybody else in. They play well in practice and they play well against our first team every day."

Hawai'i bolted to a 12-3 lead in Game 1 before UNLV got its first kill — by Sheila Ocasio-Clemente. Prior to that, UNLV scored on Hawai'i miscues and a combination block by Patricia Assuncao and Ocasio-Clemente. The Rebels didn't help themselves by committing six hitting errors and five service errors in the game.

Willoughby tallied nine kills in the game and recorded the team's final four points.

"I don't think (the Rebels) played as well as they're capable of," Shoji said. "They had flashes of good play, but they just couldn't put stuff together."

In Game 2, the Rainbow Wahine hit .692, and held an opponent to fewer than 10 points in a game for the first time this season. The last time Hawai'i held an opponent under double digits was Nov. 9, 2002, against Boise State at the Stan Sheriff Center.

In Game 3, Shoji called upon his reserves to finish off the Rebels, who led by as many as four points (14-10) and tied the game at 21.

"In Game 3, I'm angry because I thought we could compete with their second team," Collins said. "But we kind of gave it away at the end of the match by just inexperience."