For all the good things that happened to the Rainbow Wahine volleyball team last night — after the first 15 points — it was still tough to bask in the glow of their 25-19, 25-14, 25-10 sweep of Utah Valley with sophomore setter Dani Mafua watching from the bench with ice on a sore hamstring.

Sixth-ranked Hawai'i's starting setter hurt her right hamstring in warmups, thought she could go, but hobbled out 11 points into it. Stephanie Brandt, last year's starter, was stellar as she set the 'Bows (23-3) to .397 hitting and fired up five aces, but the drastic change comes as the postseason closes in, and hamstring injuries are notoriously irritating.

"I just hope she's able to play," UH coach Dave Shoji said of Mafua. "If she's not ready this week we have to get her ready for the NCAAs. That would be the biggest goal."

Last night's non-conference match, watched by 4,221 at Stan Sheriff Center, was against a school that made the leap from junior college to Division I just six seasons ago. It was supposed to serve as a warmup for this week's Western Athletic Conference Tournament, which Hawai'i will host for the first time beginning Thursday. Instead, it was Brandt's time to break back into the lineup.

Shoji said Hawai'i could "definitely" win the WAC with Brandt — "We won last year ... she's a tough, veteran player" — but was clearly bothered by Mafua's injury, and its timing.

"The tempo of the ball coming out of their hands is really different," Shoji said. "Stephanie tends to set higher so we're not as fast with her in. But that's OK. Sometimes our hitters like it a little higher. Houston does and Ferrell does. It's a little bit of an adjustment."

After falling into a 10-5 hole to start the match, mostly because of Utah Valley sophomore Kayli Broadbent, the 'Bows bounced back with a vengeance.

Broadbent came into the match hitting .179, but was 8-for-12 (.667) in the first set and opened the match with an ace. Hawai'i took Mafua out at 7-4 and began to rally in earnest after two loud kills inside the 10-foot line by Amber Kaufman and Jamie Houston. The ensuing 8-1 run included three straight aces by Aneli Cubi-Otineru and made it 15-14.

Hawai'i collected six aces in the set, with Brandt getting two and Tara Hittle one. It would finish with 11, and ultimately take UVU (10-12) completely out of its offense while Houston (10 kills), Stephanie Ferrell (9), and Kaufman and Kanani Danielson (7 each) hit from .316 to .667.

Ferrell played the final two sets for Cubi-Otineru, who "needed to rest" according to Shoji. The freshman, again, was untouchable for long periods.

"She definitely bangs in the front row," Brandt said of Ferrell. "I think she just gets so excited to play that she'll do anything to put the ball in."

"And," Kaufman added, "if you are on the other side of it you don't want to have to deal with it. You almost want to pull your hands down. It hurts."

Both teams hit .385 in the opening set. The 'Bows did not have their first block until the third point of Set 2, but would get six more in the set and nine for the night. UH scored 10 of the first 12 points in Set 2 and closed it with reserves Jayme Lee and Amanda Simmons coming in for the final three points — Lee served them all and Simmons contributed an assist and the 'Bows' last block.

Liz Ka'aihue started at libero in the final set. Hawai'i broke to an 8-1 lead, with two more aces from Brandt, and Ferrell served eight straight to make it 17-2 as all 14 players got in the match.

The Rainbow Wahine open the WAC Tournament against Boise State, which defeated Utah Valley in five last month. The Wolverines will go for their third Independent Championship in four years next week at home in Orem, then move into the Great West Conference next season.

UVU coach Sam Atoa described Boise as "very similar to us," then gave the edge overwhelmingly to the 'Bows.

"Hawai'i has just got too much talent," Atoa said. "If they are able to do what they are capable of doing, whether it is Boise or anybody else, I think they obviously have control of where they are going to go this year."

NOTES

A crowd of some 600 showed up early last night to see the annual alumnae exhibition. Spectators included this year's players, who yelled loudly for Raeceen Woolford, Cayley Thurlby, Kanoe Kamana'o and Hedder Ilustre — a quartet of recent setters and backrow specialists who all hit last night.

Olympic silver medalist Robyn Ah Mow-Santos set the first set for the Green team, which beat the White team, 30-26, despite a late serving and hitting flurry by Martina Cincerova-Vernorova — who returned from the Czech Republic to play — and Aven Lee. The White team won the second set, 30-24.

Sitting courtside, adding to the time-warp atmosphere, was former Senior Women's Administrator Cindy Mazda and her husband Steve.

Hawai'i will be the No. 2 seed for the Western Athletic Conference Tournament, which starts at 9:30 a.m. Thursday at the Stan Sheriff Center. The Rainbows will play seventh-seeded Boise State that night at 7:30 p.m. in the final first-round match.

UH finished the WAC regular season at 15-1 and tied with New Mexico State for first place. The teams split their series and the Aggies won the seeding tiebreaker. They swept all six sets against third-place Idaho, while the Rainbows lost the first set of their WAC season to the Vandals, then swept the next six.