For an hour last night, Idaho looked better than seventh-ranked Hawai'i and the Washington volleyball team the Rainbow Wahine upset last week.

Ultimately, normalcy prevailed in the Western Athletic Conference opener. The Rainbow Wahine, 10-time defending WAC champions, won 27-29, 25-21, 25-16, 25-14. It came before a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,387 that was shaking its collective head as the Vandals stole the first set and refused to back down in the second.

"I knew we couldn't match what we did Saturday as far as emotion," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "There's just no way we could get back up this soon. ... But we've just got to get better preparing for games."

His out-of-sync team got help last night. In a strange twist of fate, Idaho (7-5, 0-1) suddenly looked intimidated in the third set and the 'Bows (8-2, 1-0 WAC) blasted through the rest of the match for their seventh consecutive victory.

"You wish you knew sometimes what goes through our heads," said Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan. "We go in after the first two games thinking we're doing the right things, siding out at a high percentage, passing well, hitting well, our execution is right. Then Game 3 we get behind seven or eight and that's not even the same team. Why aren't we ready? We have nothing to lose. It was passing, it all came down to passing."

It was the Rainbows' 109th conference home win in 110 tries. Utah State swept UH in the final home conference match last year, the first time a WAC team had beaten the 'Bows at home and the only time they have lost to a WAC opponent in three.

Idaho was headed in that direction when it cut a set-long deficit in the second to 21-20, with the 'Bows still searching for a rhythm. Three kills by freshman Kanani Herring and a stuff by Jessica Keefe and Amber Kaufman later — only the 'Bows' second block — it was over and the Vandals never recovered.

Herring had her fifth double-double before the second set ended and finished with 22 kills and 17 digs. Jamie Houston added 20 kills and Hawai'i middles Nickie Thomas and Kaufman combined for 20 kills on .486 hitting.

Haley Larsen led the Vandals with 16 kills. She had just eight here a year ago, the only match all season that she did not go into double digits.

Freshman Stephanie Ferrell played for Aneli Cubi-Otineru, the 'Bows' all-conference hitter, in the first set. Cubi-Otineru suffered a broken nose in practice Thursday when she was accidentally hit by Kaufman's elbow during a drill. She was wearing a protective mask and entered the match in the second set. Ferrell, who was hitting .330 before last night, went 1 for 8 with four errors in the opener.

Cubi-Otineru said she might have to wear the mask for as long as eight weeks, but hopes it is more like a week. There is pain — "I don't want to sneeze" — and her peripheral vision "sometimes goes cuckoo" with the mask, but she had eight kills, six digs and two aces, and solidified the 'Bows' shaky ballhandling.

In the opening set, Hawai'i appeared hung over from its upset of Washington. Basic bumps went sideways, coverages were missed completely and critical shots were shanked into the net. Idaho and the 'Bows went through 13 ties, with the Vandals erasing two set points, the last on a pass they shanked over the net that fell untouched.

Herring, who gave the 'Bows those set points with her first two kills, put her next attempt into the net to give Idaho its first shot at the set. Herring killed that and Kaufman, who was 6 for 8, killed another. But, after Hawai'i's ninth hitting error, the Vandals broke through.

Idaho hit .357 in the set, with just one hitting error. It would have only two in the second set — on the 'Bows first blocks — which kept it close after UH scored nine of the first 14 points. Ultimately, the Vandals could not cope with Herring, who went 9 for 14 in the set.

The match turned Hawai'i's way in the third set. By the time the 'Bows pulled ahead 18-12, Idaho had called both its timeouts. It had used both of them at 17-10 in the fourth.

The Rainbows play Boise State tonight at 7. The Broncos (3-7, 1-0), picked in the preseason to finish seventh, swept San Jose State Thursday. The Spartans were picked third, with Idaho.

QUICK SETS: Idaho's director of volleyball operations is Kerry Yamamoto, a 2004 graduate of 'Iolani.