A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,617 saw the Rainbow Wahine (16-5) pull back into a first-place tie with New Mexico State. The Vandals (7-14) remained fourth at 6-3. It was the first time in the teams' five-match series they had taken a game off UH.

Hawai'i sophomore Jamie Houston had a match-high 24 kills, with Sarah Mason adding 19. UH middles Juliana Sanders (11 kills) and Kari Gregory (7) went 18 for 30 with only one error.

Senior Amanda Bowman led Idaho with 17 kills and freshman Sarah Conwell had 11 — seven in Game 2.

Hawai'i did very little wrong in Game 1. It scored the first eight points on Mason's serve, with Houston and Sanders blasting away in the front row and Mason sandwiching an Idaho timeout with three consecutive aces.

By the time the Vandals got a grip it was too late. They took their last timeout trailing 21-12. Their offense had nine kills and a single error and wasn't even making a dent. Hawai'i would hit .548 for the game, with Houston 7-for-11, Mason 5-for-10 — with five digs — and Sanders 4-for-5.

But the 'Bows' brilliance cooled quickly and Idaho found its passing and defense between games. After 15 ties, the Vandals pulled ahead in Game 2 and wouldn't let go.

They built a 22-18 advantage, with 10 of their points coming from the suddenly generous Rainbows in the form of missed serves and spikes, violations and ballhandling errors. Hawai'i cut its deficit in half, but could get no closer because of Conwell, who didn't even start.

Hawai'i weathered that storm and stuffed the Vandals five times in the third, using a 9-2 run to surge ahead 23-13 and regain control. The Rainbows pulled away from 15-all in the final game.

Hawai'i plays San Jose State (14-9, 5-5) Sunday at 5 p.m. The Rainbow Wahine go back on the road next week, playing at Nevada Thursday and Utah State next Saturday. Their final homestand is Nov. 15 and 17 against Boise State and New Mexico State.