Their efforts helped improve the Warriors to 10-1 overall and 8-0 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Trojans fell to 3-12 and 1-8.

Hakala, a first-year Warrior from Finland, was told during warmups that he would make his first NCAA start. The self-styled "Finnish-er" proved to be a worthy opener.

The 6-foot-2 Hakala delivered accurate passes, receiving 21 serves without an error, and contributed to five blocks.

"It always feels nice to start," Hakala said. "It means the coach wants to put you in. That's good."

UH coach Mike Wilton admittedly struggled with the decision to make a lineup change for a reason other than injury. But JosŽ JosŽ Delgado, a fourth-year junior, has been erratic offensively in his past 10 starts.

"JosŽ has a lot of time in the program, and he is a very good volleyball player," Wilton said. "You're sensitive to that. We really needed to upgrade some production out there. We went with Lauri. He came in (Thursday) night and did a good job. He upgraded us tonight even more."

UH setter Brian Beckwith said Hakala "really became a sparkplug for us. He has so much energy. He usually brings that off the bench. But when you have it off the start, it helps even more."

Although LaBarre has been the Warriors' most consistent player, he battles insecurity, largely because he picked up the sport only in high school. What's more, he returned to the team last season after a 14-month church mission in Russia, a span during which he did not play volleyball.

"I still consider myself a new player to volleyball," LaBarre said. "I'm trying to have fun and not be stressed out. You want to do good because the coaches are starting you. When you don't, you get frustrated."

This season, it is LaBarre inducing frustration. At 6 feet 9, LaBarre can touch 11-6. On Beckwith's high sets, LaBarre makes contact with a pick-axe swing.

"He's got a whip for an arm," outside hitter Matt Bender said. "He jumps so high. He gets so much volume. He's hitting the ball straight down, and that gets a lot more velocity. He's a force in the middle."

LaBarre said he is motivated by a pre-match ritual with KFVE play-by-play announcer Jim Leahey.

"Before the first game of the Outrigger (Invitational last month), he came up to me and said, 'Play awesome,' " LaBarre recalled. "I said, 'Uh, OK, will do.' I had a pretty decent (match), and he kept doing it every time. Before every (match) he says, 'Play awesome,' and I say, 'Will do.' "

After every home match, Leahey will say, "You did."

"We have a two-word relationship," LaBarre said.

LaBarre had eight blocks, and he collaborated with opposite hitter Pedro Azenha to block the aloha ball.

It is a sign of maturity that the Warriors were able to dominate even when Azenha, the go-to hitter, struggles. Azenha had eight kills and five errors.

But that opened the way for Bender, the other outside hitter, who placed 15 kills with a variety of shots. Bender was creative in blasting out of the back row or rolling shots over double blocks.

"Somebody once said it's better to be lucky than good," Bender said. "I think luck definitely plays a part sometimes. But Brian was getting me the ball, and I had a lot of good opportunities."

USC, meanwhile, had limited options. Starting setter Jimmy Killian remained in Los Angeles while recovering from tonsillitis. Opposite hitter Blake Tippett has a torn labrum in his right (swinging) shoulder. He hit .093 during the two-match series.

"The guys are working hard, but everyone realizes we're at a disadvantage," USC coach Turhan Douglas said. "That means everyone else has to step up. Unfortunately, we didn't do that tonight. That's just athletics. That's the way things go."

USC used 10 of the 12 players on the travel roster. Middle blocker Andrew Vernon had 11 kills and no errors, but the outside attackers were inconsistent. Joao Grangeiro, who had 22 kills Thursday night, had two last night.

"Hawai'i came out and served tough,"Douglas said. "We were prepared, and we still made a ton of hitting errors. We have to go back to work, and work on getting better."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8051.