Explanation of the free-fall was all over the court last night, along with the Waves' shots. Take away Katy Daly, who blasted the 'Bows for 25 kills, and setter Melissa Mehlhorn, and PU hit zero.

The 'Bows reversed Pepperdine's hitting trend, before a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,655. Alicia Arnott nearly matched her 11 kills with 10 of UH's 15 errors. Every other Rainbow hitter had at least four kills and hit at least .333, with Susie Boogaard a brilliant 12 for 28 with no mistakes (.429).

Still, Hawai'i struggled to close out games, serving out and looking sluggish at times. But it won, as this young team has done all through this young season.

"It always seems like we come up with a really big play," said UH freshman Tara Hittle, who had 11 kills. "That helps build momentum. When times get tough we all pull together really well. God knows why."

That was most obvious in Game 1.

Susie Boogaard, who led Hawai'i with 12 kills, hammers one past the block of Pepperdine's Katy Daly during last night's match. Rebecca Breyer • The Honolulu Advertiser

The switch worked early. Hawai'i lost the first three points of the match and staggered into a 19-13 deficit while barely hitting for a positive percentage. It stabilized itself long enough to let Pepperdine self-destruct.

In the final 12 serves, the Waves had half their 10 hitting errors. They lost the final points on a serve into the bottom of the net and Hinds' spike into the antenna.

"It seems like we've lost every game by two points," PU coach Nina Matthies said. "We're just making too many errors. It's a young group and it's pressing. Instead of just relaxing like, 'Hey, we've got it,' they haven't.

"Winning begets winning. This team is trying to get a personality and learn how to win. We're OK. We're not what we want to be, but we're going to keep getting better."

"We will get it," Crabbe insisted. "We will."

Hawai'i hopes it is not tonight, when the teams go at it again in Dave Shoji's 1,000th match as Hawai'i coach. Shoji is worried about Daly. She was the only PU hitter in positive numbers in Game 1 when she went a phenomenal 10 for 14.

"There was a stretch in Game 2 where she took a lot of swings and didn't get any kills," Shoji said. "But she kept swinging and making some shots and she ended up having a great night anyway. I thought maybe we'd get to her a little bit. I give her a lot of credit for coming back.

"She was not going over anybody, so obviously she hits really good shots. She's got them all. Tomorrow we have to figure out a way to make her hit her least favorite shot."

NOTES

• Hawai'i opens its WAC season at Fresno State Thursday and Nevada next Saturday. They are also the 'Bows' first road matches.

• UH ran its winning streak over unranked opponents to 181. The last team to upset the 'Bows was Pepperdine, on Sept. 12, 1997.

• Kekai Crabbe played junior club volleyball with Rainbows Juliana Sanders, Alicia Arnott and Kanoe Kamana'o.

• The Waves had been in the Top 25 81 straight weeks, dating back to 1998, until this week.