Seventh-ranked Hawai'i rallied past a ranked opponent for the first time this season, overcoming 10th-ranked UCLA to win the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge last night. The scores were 24-30, 30-25, 30-24, 30-26 before a crowd of 7,186 at Stan Sheriff Center.

The match was the 62nd between the programs, led by the two winningest active coaches in the game. UCLA's Andy Banachowski has 989 victories and UH's Dave Shoji 875. After winning the last four, Hawai'i now leads the series 34-28.

The Rainbow Wahine (5-3) have also won 10 of the 11 Challenges. The tournament lived up to its name for all of its intense final match last night.

The Bruins (5-1) began fast, beating UH in every phase of the first game. They got up by as many as eight (19-11) before Hawai'i put two points together.

The 'Bows remained patient, "reframed" and rallied behind their block in Game 2, pulling ahead 9-5 with three early stuffs. The one person they couldn't touch was Nana Meriwether, who drilled seven kills in eight swings. Some landed before the UH block jumped.

But the 'Bows had balance. Their outsides struggled to put the ball down against UCLA's big block, but they were persistent enough to give tournament MVP Victoria Prince (14 kills) and all-tournament selection Juliana Sanders (12) enough of a complement to eventually bury the Bruins.

Freshman Jamie Houston led UH with 17 kills. Sarah Mason, in her first full match since injuring her ankle in the season opener, added 14 and Susie Boogaard eight.

In contrast, UCLA got 83 percent of its kills from Meriwether (16), Rachell Johnson (17) and Kaitlin Sather (21) — one of three freshman it started. The other hitters combined for 11 kills and hit .050.

Meriwether was shut out in Game 3, when the Rainbow Wahine started to at least touch her and their serving got more aggressive. They had seven aces and only three errors in the last two games to consistently take the Bruins out of their offense.

"Our serving helped us win," Shoji said. "Midway through the match Meriwether was dominating our block and we just had to serve tougher. (Colby) Lyman passed so much of the court it's hard to go away from her, so we decided to hit it towards her anyway and just make 'em tougher."

Mason, who started on the right and played the last three games on the left, hammered three straight kills to put Hawai'i ahead, 29-24, in Game 3. "She was really rusty tonight and missing some shots, but I just felt we needed her presence in there," Shoji said. "She's pretty fiery and when she gets going she can thump it."

UH won on one of many whistles, with UCLA penalized for coming over the net and interfering with Kanoe Kamana'o's set.

"Both teams had a lot of energy, but ultimately we were the ones to pull it together at the end," Mason said. "We were the tougher team all the way through the game and we put the ball down at times of need. We stayed more consistent."

The final game was tied 14 times before UH took the lead for good at 21-20. Kamana'o served two points. After Sather stopped the run, Boogaard put down her last kill and Ashley Watanabe served UH to a 27-21 advantage, with an ace and two points from Mason.

Hawai'i stalled at 28-22 as the Bruins scored four straight. Finally, Jordan Smith made UCLA's 14th service error and Boogaard aced match point.

"We've had a lot of different lineups," Mason said. "People going down. New people coming in. I think it forces us to mature, forces the people out on the court to come together no matter what. It's forced us to respond to adversity very well."

Cincinnati (2-4) took third place with a 28-30, 30-25, 30-24, 30-23 victory over Cal State Northridge (2-7). The win was the Bearcats' first since their season-opener and their first in two years at the Challenge. They were 0-3 here in 2001.

Cincinnati got 18 kills and 13 digs from sophomore Jenny Custer. Maria Pongonis, its only senior, added 16 kills and 23 digs. Freshman Darla Donaldson again led the Matadors, with 17 kills and half their eight blocks.

NOTES

UH junior Kanoe Kamana'o surpassed Jennifer Carey for fourth in career assists. Kamana'o needs more than 600 to catch Cheri Boyer in third at 4,304.

Second-ranked Washington comes in next weekend.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.