RENO, Nev. — Hawai'i got a peek at the future of Western Athletic Conference volleyball in last night's tournament semifinals. Its dominance remains intact, but it might soon have to learn how to duck.

Nevada, which took two whippings from the Rainbow Wahine during the regular season, threw everything it had at eighth-ranked Hawai'i before falling, 30-19, 22-30, 30-28, 33-31, before 1,192 at Lawlor Events Center. Earlier, second-seeded Utah State outlasted third-seeded New Mexico State in another marathon match full of drastic momentum shifts and players ripping without regret.

The Rainbow Wahine (24-6) play USU today (3 p.m. HST) for the championship and automatic NCAA bid, presuming both teams can get out of bed this morning. Hawai'i is going for its eighth straight WAC title, and 125th consecutive win over a conference opponent.

The Aggies will be trying to finish what they, NMSU and Nevada have started the past two years against Hawai'i, but have yet to complete. All three have taken the Rainbows to the limit without ending their spectacular streak.

Last night's win over the fourth-seeded Wolf Pack (18-12) might have only gone four games, but it felt like five or six.

"Tonight it was tough for us to get emotionally up for a team we'd beaten twice," Shoji said. "Technically we were OK and tactically we were OK, but emotionally we just weren't where we need to be. I think we will be there next week."

Nevada started coming after Hawai'i — just as it did last year — in Game 2, behind all-WAC senior Salaia Salave'a and freshman Allison Hernandez, forced into the front row for the first time when Teal Ericson's sore shoulder gave out. The Pack outscored UH 6-1 to break from 18-all.

The Rainbows hit .313, and lost going away as Salave'a buried seven kills and Hernandez five, which matched her career total. The Wolf Pack, playing UH for the first time this year with all-WAC setter Tristin Johnson and middle Salave'a on the court together, were passing so well every offensive option was open.

"Our girls absolutely did everything they could to win tonight," Nevada coach Devin Scruggs said. "We came up short, but I was very pleased with the effort."

The only difference in Game 3 was a five-point Nevada hiccup with Jamie Houston serving. She got Hernandez into passing trouble and the 'Bows blew ahead 20-14, then played keepaway.

Nevada wasn't through, particularly seniors Christine Harms (16 digs) and Salave'a (a match-high 20 kills), who starts her collegiate basketball career Monday. It scored eight straight to jump to a 9-2 advantage in Game 4, then endured another memorable Hawai'i comeback.

"We were totally calm about it," said UH senior Victoria Prince, who led UH with 18 kills on .469 hitting. "You can't get all freaked out."

Hawai'i brought in Sarah Mason, coming off an injury, for Houston, whose arm went wild after 12 resounding kills. Slowly, the 'Bows got a grip on their passing, Salave'a and then the game.

Nevada called its first timeout in the midst of a 4-0 UH run that cut its deficit to 17-15. The Rainbows needed seven tries to finally tie it. They got it at 27 on a stuff by Mason and Juliana Sanders — who was in on eight of Hawai'i's 11 blocks.

The game would be tied four more times, with the Pack serving for it three times. Tara Hittle, who had half her 10 kills in the final game, and Prince erased the first two. Hernandez hit out on the third. Then Prince and Kanoe Kamana'o roofed Carly Sorensen and Prince blasted her final kill to end it.

"I asked the girls to just lay it out there with no regrets," Scruggs said. "That was our goal."

It was attained, according to Harms, an academic All-American: "I didn't feel like that last game got away from us. Hawai'i is a really good team and we battled them the whole way and we just didn't end up on top. I thought we did everything we possibly could."

The Rainbow Wahine took a deep breath and tried to start thinking about Utah State, who took them to five last time they played.

Last night, the Aggies had to rally past NMSU, 24-30, 30-24, 27-30, 30-25, 15-13. USU (21-11) trailed 9-7 in the final game before scoring six in a row to take control.

"Sometime in the middle of Game 4 at a timeout we talked to the kids about being tougher," Utah State coach Burt Fuller said. "And they were."

USU had four hitters with at least a dozen kills. The only starter who didn't was Beth Hodge, playing her third match on the right side, who collected 14 digs and was in on 11 of Utah's 19 blocks.

New Mexico State (20-7) did get all five hitters in double digits, but had five of its 39 hitting errors in the final 11 serves.

NMSU took Hawai'i to five games twice during the regular season. USU has done it twice over the last two seasons. Both are first-year WAC members.

"I would be very disappointed if the WAC didn't have three teams in the NCAA Tournament," NMSU coach Mike Jordan said. "I think us and Utah State are very deserving. I feel like we're among the top 64 teams. I think we're both top 30."

NMSU received votes in the Top 25 for the first time in history this week.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.