Lewis was led by outside hitter Jeff Soler, a self-styled "X Factor" who celebrates his kills by crossing his raised arms. UH players responded by smiling in bemusement and the Stan Sheriff Center crowd chanted "So-Ler ... So-Ler ..."

Soler, a senior who had a team-high 15 kills, said, "You hear a lot of people giving me garbage about it. I love it, especially here, because it helps me feed off (the reaction), and that helps me lift the team. I'll play my game no matter if I have nobody here or a million people here."

UH setter Brian Beckwith said: "We were wondering what that big 'X' thing was about. I guess the way to shut that down is to play well."

The Warriors answered with a powerful inside-outside attack, accurate passing and athletic defense. Opposite hitter Pedro Azenha buried 16 kills and middle blocker Mauli'a LaBarre contributed 11 kills (against one error) and hit .625. Outside hitter José José Delgado and libero Alfred Reft jump-started the offense with high passes to Beckwith, and middle blocker Dionisio Dante had his handprints on seven of the Warriors' 10.5 blocks.

Beckwith said the offensive emergence of Delgado (14 kills) and LaBarre have kept opponents from keying on Azenha and outside hitter Matt Bender.

Of LaBarre, Beckwith said, "We're connecting. The passing is there, so I'll continue to feed him. He's come out with a new-found confidence and killer instinct this year."

At 6 feet 8 and 190 pounds, LaBarre still resembles 6 o'clock. But he said his improved strength (he bench presses 135 pounds 14 times) has helped his stamina and vertical jump (he can touch 11 feet 6).

"He's made his body stronger and he's jumping high," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "He's doing really well."

The Warriors also managed to conquer their third-game blahs. They have complained that it is difficult to retain the momentum during the extended break between Games 2 and 3. That 10-minute intermission, which was requested by the UH marketing department for home matches, is seven minutes longer than the breaks between the other games. No other school has such a lengthy break between games.

Wilton said he kept the players warm by ordering them not to sit during the intermission. Many of the players jogged in place in the tunnel leading to the locker room.

"We wanted the engines on," said Wilton, referring to Wednesday's match in which the Warriors squandered a 2-0 lead in games. "Sometimes we've been turning the engines off during the 10-minute break."

During the 90-second timeouts — extended by 30 seconds to accommodate live television — Wilton allowed the players to get settled before addressing them.

The tactics apparently worked. The Warriors hit .400 in Game 3.

"Keeping the blood flowing really helped us out," Beckwith said. "We came out very focused."

The Flyers, meanwhile, stumbled out of the tunnel. In Game 3, their first three serves did not clear the net. UH scored its first five points without a kill.

"You can't expect to win at a high level if you're not consistent, especially with something like serving," Lewis coach Dan Friend said.

Brigham Young def. Penn State, 3-2: The defending national champions rallied for a 27-30, 28-30, 30-27, 30-24, 15-11 victory.

Middle blocker Michael Burke led BYU with 16 kills and four blocks, but it was Casey Patterson who provided the emotional boost.

Patterson opened the match as one of two left-side hitters, but moved to opposite hitter for the start of Game 3. After amassing one kill in six swings in the first two games, Patterson finished with 15 kills in 29 swings. He hit .310.

Patterson, a fifth-year senior, did not play last season. He was cleared to join the team Monday, and arrived in Honolulu Tuesday without having practiced with his teammates.

Patterson's switch to opposite allowed Ivan Perez, who also was activated this week, to move into the rotation. Perez had nine kills and seven digs.