Turns out the title was a misnomer. Stanford found the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge, and ninth-ranked Hawai'i, anything but a challenge.

The eighth-ranked Cardinal blasted by the Rainbow Wahine, 30-10, 30-22, 30-24, in last night's championship. A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 6,563 watched in awe and frustration as Stanford (6-1) gave Hawai'i (5-3) its worst beating since rally scoring began in 2001.

The 'Bows had never scored less than 16 points in a game before last night, or 68 points in a match. Its worst previous loss came in the 2001 season-opener when rally scoring debuted and the 'Bows got bashed by Nebraska.

Stanford made that look like a nail-biter last night. Cardinal sophomore Cynthia Barboza was the best player on the floor. In the first game she went 8 for 10 in kills and blasted three aces.

Whatever inspiration Hawai'i got from All-American Kanoe Kamana'o starting — for the first time this weekend because of what she called a hip injury — was crushed when Stanford aced the first point and ripped to a 15-3 advantage. The Rainbow Wahine didn't get their first kill until they were down 16-5.

After their best performance of the season Friday against Northwestern, the Rainbow roller coaster hit bottom.

"When a team plays poorly it's usually a reflection on the coaching they've been receiving," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "I've got no one to blame but the head coach right now. It's obvious we are not performing and you can't blame the players. I've got to take responsibility for what's out on the court. Right now it's not very good."

Hawai'i tried 13 players. Cayley Thurlby, who started the last two matches, replaced Kamana'o at setter after Game 1. It got only marginally better for the 'Bows. Stanford was so superior that UH tried to do too much and compounded its errors in the process. In the final game, it missed six of its first eight serves.

"I think Hawai'i has a lot of things going on right now," Stanford coach John Dunning said. "They wanted Kanoe to play because she's so good but you could tell she hadn't been playing with them and the other setter had been doing a good job. You get caught in between. It's tough. We just got the lucky side of things tonight."

But setting might have been the least of the Rainbows' problems. They couldn't get the ball to the setter, with passes flying and serves, tips and free balls falling.

"We found that self-destruct button early and hit it," Thurlby said. "We slowly made steps to get better, but in general the ball control just wasn't there."

After Friday's steady ballhandling performance, the difference was striking. So was Stanford. Hawai'i never led and Dunning called just two timeouts. He was ahead by six both times.

"Stanford is a heck of a ball club and they played about as well as they can play," Shoji said. "It was just hard to put the ball down and they've got a lot of weapons. They forced us into playing poorly. It wasn't like we just showed up and played badly. It was mostly them making us look bad."

The Cardinal served Hawai'i silly while Barboza (15 kills) buried balls all over the court and 6-foot-3 Foluke Akinradewo (13) dinked UH to death. Jamie Houston and Sarah Mason had 10 kills apiece to lead UH, which hit .110 in the match.

When Game 1 was over, 19 minutes after it started, the Rainbow Wahine actually heard a few boos.

"I know the players were trying their best," Shoji said. "They want to win and want to score and it's just not happening because we have these ball-control issues that prevent us from playing steady."

Kamana'o characterized her hip injury as "nothing serious" and told Shoji she was ready to play. She figures she is about 90 percent now and said she believes she can finish out her senior season.

The status of Tara Hittle, the backbone of the 'Bows' ballhandling, is still undecided. She was out all weekend and wearing a walking cast on her right foot.

"I want to see what the medical staff says Monday about Hittle," he said. "We have to make a decision on her."

NOTES

All-Tournament team — Most Outstanding: Cynthia Barboza (Stanford). Foluke Akinradewo (Stanford), Sarah Mason (UH), Jamie Houston (UH), Kate Nobilio (Northwestern), Lindsey Lee (Fairfield), Kristin Richards (Stanford).

Northwestern (3-3) grabbed third place with a 30-27, 30-22, 30-25 victory over Fairfield (3-6) in yesterday's opener.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.