After a week of doubts, Hawai'i picked on the vaunted Pac-10 yesterday in a performance that changed the complexion of its season.

Volleyball, not football.

Sixth-ranked Hawai'i swept 10th-ranked Stanford, 27-25, 25-21, 25-22, to win the 15th annual Honolulu Advertiser Challenge. This one went beyond win deep.

It was the program's 1,000th victory, beginning with nine coached by Alan Kang in 1974 and now 991 by Dave Shoji, who should become the second coach in his sport with 1,000 wins next month.

Hawai'i (7-2) has now beaten two Pac-10 teams this year, sweeps of UCLA and Stanford (5-3) sandwiching a disheartening loss to Cal a week ago that left the 'Bows questioning their skill and their will.

For one night, at least, those questions were answered, with 6,338 at the Stan Sheriff Center exulting at their team's tenacity against an opponent that has become Hawai'i's greatest nemesis.

The Rainbow Wahine's 13th Challenge championship was their first win over the Cardinal in six years, and only their second in the teams' last 11 meetings, dating back 18 years. It was also their first sweep of Stanford since 1991.

The teams met in last year's regional final, where Stanford smoked the 'Bows before ultimately falling — for the third straight year — in the NCAA final. This time it was very different, from the many new faces to Hawai'i's ability to focus.

The Rainbows have since lost first-team All-American Jamie Houston and started three underclassmen in the Challenge final. The Cardinal, with its lowest ranking since the end of 2005, lost two first-team All-Americans and started four underclassmen.

What transpired was totally unexpected: Offense ruled, with UH hitting a phenomenal .392. To put that into context, the Rainbows hit .053 in December with 29 hitting errors.

"Offensively we were just on fire. To hit almost 40 percent against a really quality team is just unheard of," Shoji said. "Our hitters had tremendous nights. But that starts with passing and the setting was outstanding."

Stanford was no slouch, hitting .314. "When you look at the stats," Stanford coach John Dunning said, "there's not a huge difference. It's just a few plays. I thought they served better than we did and passed better, and that made the little bit of difference."

Hawai'i's attack took a while to get going, but once it did, with senior Aneli Cubi-Otineru serving in the middle of the first set, Stanford never stopped it. The Rainbow passing was so precise setter Dani Mafua had nearly every option.

She celebrated by making the middles a huge part of the offense. Senior middle blocker Amber Kaufman had just one block, but was phenomenal offensively, with 13 kills in 17 swings. She hit .706 and it took the Cardinal 1 hour and 35 minutes to finally force an error, on her last swing. The match lasted 1:36.

There was no relief in the rotation. Freshman middle Brittany Hewitt hit a sweet .667, going 9-for-12 and dropping in on five of Hawai'i's seven stuffs.

"We had Amber at 100 mph," Shoji said, "and then we throw a change-up with Brittany at about 72 mph."

Stanford could match one middle with senior Janet Okogbaa hitting .565 and burying 14 kills, but could not quite keep up anywhere else. Danielson, often hitting over blockers five inches taller, matched Kaufman's 13 kills, hit .455 and passed 24 serves perfectly.

The tournament title is the Rainbow Wahine's second this season, and Danielson was named Most Outstanding in both. Mafua and Kaufman were also selected all-tournament.

The opening set was tied 13 times and Hawai'i didn't take its first lead until 20-19, in the midst of a 14-7 surge. That's when it got interesting.

"We had a chance to win and didn't," Dunning said. "We were up, playing well, and we let them get to us in one rotation. Number 13 (Cubi-Otineru) went off but give the credit to Hawai'i. I don't know how this compared to last weekend but I thought they really did a nice job tonight."

After taking its last timeout down 21-19, the Cardinal scored three in a row, forcing UH to burn its final timeout. Hawai'i tied it on Kaufman's fourth kill in as many swings and would get to set point first at 24-23.

Alix Klineman's fifth kill erased one set point. Cubi-Otineru missed her serve on the second, but Klineman returned the miss and Hewitt buried the winning point when Stanford shanked Stephanie Brandt's serve.

"Normally when you're down that much with a great team," Danielson said, "if you're not within three points you're done. They're just going to keep finishing it no matter how hard you are trying.

"The passing finally came along and Dani was in rhythm like crazy."

Brandt was in for the final serve again in the second set. She sent it at Klineman, who passed it off her cheek, leading to a swing for the match by Danielson. She drilled it off libero Gabie Ailes.

Hawai'i rode that momentum into the third set, scoring the first four points and pulling to a 9-4 lead. Stanford kept rallying, but never caught up.

"We always say if we play our game we'll win," Kaufman said. "Well tonight we played our game."

Added Shoji: "This means we have the capability to hang with just about anybody. To beat two Pac-10 teams, all highly ranked, is a tribute to our players and how hard they've worked. ... We're very confident now. We'll take this and try to improve on it."

In the third-place match, Texas-San Antonio (4-7) held on to give Weber State (1-9) its seventh straight loss, 25-22, 25-21, 20-25, 27-25. Kendra Rowland collected a double-double (11 kills, 11 digs) for the Roadrunners and Wildcat seniors Chelsea Bair and Jenna Leggatt had 16 kills apiece.

NOTES

Pepperdine, ranked 19th and coming in to play Hawai'i Friday and Saturday, lost to Army in five last night in Malibu, Calif., to drop to 6-2.