No truth to the rumor fourth-ranked Hawai'i went into its Western Athletic Conference volleyball opener last night with one hand tied behind its back so it could scare up a challenge.

Rainbow Wahine All-American Kanani Danielson was really home with "flu-like symptoms" that forced her out of practice Wednesday. Her teammates managed to make Boise State feel sick all by themselves, sweeping the Broncos, 25-21, 25-14, 25-14, to run their winning streak to six.

Hawai'i (10-2) has won all six via sweep and there was little doubt it would be the same last night in front of 3,374 at Stan Sheriff Center— even without the 'Bows' kill leader. Boise State, picked to finish eighth in the WAC, dropped to 0-11 under first-year coach Shawn Garus, who was hired just three months ago from UNC-Greensboro. The wholesale makeover that followed left him with three juniors, no seniors, seven new Broncos and 15 faces completely new to him.

They put up a fight, particularly early when the only difference in the opening set was their four missed serves. Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji had to call time when an 8-3 Boise run cut his team's lead to 23-20.

"That was a real positive timeout," Garus said. "Everybody was believing at that point and felt like they were in it."

"I thought Boise came out spirited and played hard," Shoji said. "They hit for a pretty high percentage. We've held better teams to a lower percentage. Give them a lot of credit. They haven't won a match, but you couldn't tell that by the way they played."

Hawai'i held off BSU, with freshman Brittany Hewitt blasting the winning kill. By the time that set was over, 10 Rainbow Wahine had played. Alexis Robins subbed into Set 2 and Alexis Forsythe started Set 3 to make it an even dozen. There was never a dropoff, even with Danielson and all her wondrous versatility home trying to recuperate for tomorrow's match against Idaho.

"Different phases of the match were pretty good," Shoji said. "I thought we blocked well. We did a pretty good job with the game plan but there's still room for improvement."

Aneli Cubi-Otineru shifted into Danielson's position, Stephanie Ferrell took Cubi-Otineru's place in the rotation and sophomore Corinne Cascioppo got her first start since transferring to Hawai'i this season. It must have worked because Cubi-Otineru had 13 kills and Ferrell 11.

The middle dropped in on nine of 10 blocks, added 16 more kills and hit .681 in a dominant performance that might have said as much about the state of the passing without Danielson as it did about Hewitt, Amber Kaufman and Forsythe.

Ferrell and Cubi-Otineru had their own goals to keep them focused, most involving being more offensive than defensive, by any definition.

"I was trying to keep our energy up instead of bringing it down," Ferrell said. "They weren't really giving us any energy so it was important to keep our energy up and play at a high level and not down to theirs."

The Broncos did not look like a winless team. Freshman Liz Harden lit up Hawai'i for eight kills in nine swings and Amanda Remy, a 5-foot-8 freshman defensive specialist turned hitter, hurt Hawai'i early.

"We just don't have very many attackers so I moved her (Remy) to the outside because of her energy," Garus said. "She is just feisty and aggressive and when we were playing well it was because of her."

But the 'Bows were never in serious danger. Serving caused early separation in Set 2, with Kaufman and Cubi-Otineru getting consecutive aces as the 'Bows blew to a 9-3 lead, and Ferrell's five kills helping Hawai'i hit .450. The final set saw both teams surge and slump, but Hawai'i scored nine of the first 12 points and never let the Broncos within four again, as Forsythe buried five kills in her only six swings.

"That was nice not to have to worry about the superstar," Garus said about missing Danielson, "but it doesn't mean we match up. It's just one less person to worry about."

Hawai'i plays Idaho tomorrow to end its season-opening 13-match homestand. The Vandals (5-7), who won at San Jose State last night to end a six-match losing streak, will play their first 14 matches away from home.

NOTES

Catherine Fowler's parents live in Conway, Ark. A caption in yesterday's Advertiser had the wrong information. ... Boise State has lost all 19 matches in its series with Hawai'i. The last time it took a set was 2006.