Hawai'i had its problems last night, but Nevada was not one of them as the 16th-ranked Rainbow Wahine swept the Wolf Pack, 30-24, 30-24, 30-23, at the Virginia Street Gym in Reno. In the process, UH senior Kanoe Kamana'o became the Western Athletic Conference's career assist leader.

With their fifth consecutive win, the 'Bows (18-5) stayed even with 23rd-ranked New Mexico State (27-1) at 10-1 in the WAC. Nevada (14-10), which is third, dropped to 8-4.

UH plays at Utah State tomorrow, at 4 p.m. HST. The match will be broadcast live on 1420 AM.

Kamana'o will attempt to add to her record, and All-American legacy. She went into last night's game four assists short of the WAC record, and broke it on the 21st serve. Kamana'o has 5,904 assists in her career, 746 short of the NCAA record. Colorado State's Analisa Saylor set the WAC record in 1997.

"Obviously that record stood for awhile and it was a player who started all four years so the only one who can break it is someone who starts as a freshman and puts up huge numbers, which Kanoe did," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "It's amazing. She's stayed healthy, set veteran teams when she played with Lily (Kahumoku) and Kim (Willoughby), has had some young players she's set and her numbers have never really varied."

Hawai'i won going away last night, despite an attack that was mostly missing its most dominant weapon. Sophomore Jamie Houston, fifth in the nation in kills, didn't get her first until Kamana'o broke the record. Houston hit negative .538 in the first game, with nine errors.

It didn't matter. Juliana Sanders picked up the pieces, going 7 for 10 in Game 1. Sarah Mason added six more kills and finished with a match-high 13. After making up an early deficit, the Rainbows went on a 15-4 surge to pull ahead 24-15, with Kari Gregory serving six straight.

The Rainbow Wahine would never trail again. Houston rallied to finish with 10 kills and nearly brought her hitting percentage back to zero, finishing at negative .029. It was the first time in 11 matches she has had fewer than 18 kills.

"It was great we could win without Jamie having a great night," Shoji said. "I thought Sarah and Juli stepped up big and got key sideouts and Jamie played really well in Game 3."

Sanders, who was recruited by Nevada, hit .611 and was in on half of Hawai'i's 12 stuffs. Kamana'o had five blocks and Mason and Gregory four each.

Shoji started Elise Duggins for the first time, playing backrow for right-side hitter Amber Kaufman, and she came up with eight digs.

The Pack also altered its look, throwing a 6-2 (six hitters, two setters) formation at Hawai'i in an effort to help its offense. Nevada's percentage was just .103 for the match, with Teal Ericson, its leading hitter, hitting .000.

"I thought they looked a little out of rhythm with the new setter and six hitters," Shoji said. "It's something we had not seen and I'm not sure how much they had seen it."