Playing with a renewed sense of urgency, ninth-ranked Hawai'i found its volleyball "fastball" again last night and swept past Utah State at Dee Glen Smith Spectrum in Logan, Utah. The Rainbow Wahine (14-3, 7-1) won all three sets by scores of 25-18.

The victory kept them tied for first in the Western Athletic Conference with New Mexico State, which swept Idaho last night. NMSU upset UH Sunday to earn its share of first.

That loss, and the memory of getting swept by Utah State in Hawai'i last November — the 'Bows' only two WAC home losses in history — served as inspiration at an elevation of 4,500-plus feet last night.

"There was a great anticipation," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "The players obviously wanted to get right back out there and show that we are a good team. There was much more of a sense of urgency tonight."

And efficiency. Hawai'i's attack was led by freshman Kanani Herring and senior Jamie Houston, who each had 12 kills on 23 attempts, with a .391 hitting percentage. It was the first time since Herring sprained her ankle Sept. 22 that she played every rotation.

"I think she is finally back close to where she was," Shoji said. "She was probably at 95 percent tonight. She had to work her way through a whole match. The last 10 or 12 days she's had a little bit of fear. I wasn't quite sure what to do, but she just let it go tonight and played hard."

The four Hawai'i outside hitters combined to hit .416 and the team hit .337. It was a dramatic contrast to Sunday, when the Rainbow Wahine set a dubious school record by hitting just .023.

"The passing was a little better and when it was good Dani (Mafua) set quicker to the outside, which is the way we were three or four weeks ago," Shoji said. "We had gotten away from that."

The 'Bows outhit USU (6-13, 4-4) by 258 points (.337-.079) last night and collected 11 blocks to the Aggies' three. UH middles Amber Kaufman and Catherine Fowler — who only played the final set — each had four stuffs. Herring and Houston were in on three apiece.

It began much like last time UH played Utah State. The first set was tied 10 times before Hawai'i scored four in a row to take control. It never trailed in the second set, using a 10-5 surge to pull away 20-15 on Herring's 10th kill. The Rainbow Wahine broke to a 13-5 advantage in the final set behind Fowler.

Utah State, which lost two middle blockers to injury two matches into the season, was led by Melissa Osterloh's 12 kills. The Aggies lost their first eight matches, but upset Purdue — then ranked 15th — for their first win a month ago.

The Rainbows ripped five aces last night, with Mafua getting two, including match point. Shoji had his players "back off 10 percent" on their serves to deal with the altitude.

Hawai'i concludes this road trip tomorrow at Nevada, which has an altitude only a few feet lower than Logan. The match will be broadcast live on ESPN Radio/1420 AM at 4 p.m. HST.