After a lapse of self-inflicted volleyball torture, 12th-ranked Hawai'i finally finished off Fresno State, 30-17, 30-22, 13-30, 30-22, last night. The Western Athletic Conference match was watched by 4,459 at Stan Sheriff Center, most squirming through a shockingly bad third game.

Ultimately, the Bulldogs (4-14, 2-5 WAC) were not a threat, but their tenacity allowed them to make the Rainbow Wahine (13-3, 7-0) look bad even as they won their 10th straight. FSU gave Hawai'i its worst one-game beating of the year in a third game straight out of the Twilight Zone. UH coach Dave Shoji, his team appearing almost effortlessly in control, tried three substitutions and all hell broke loose.

FSU, which came in 0-40 against UH and had been swept the last five meetings, began to do a great imitation of UCLA. The Rainbow Wahine started to play like they had on that hellish night against the fifth-ranked Bruins five weeks ago, with the starters that remained most responsible. The one-game walkabout might have been considered a hiccup, but after the 'Bows had made so much progress in the past month they were almost as discouraged as their coach.

"They just kept it up," UH freshman Liz Ka'aihue said of the Bulldogs. "They were serving tougher, they were digging balls. Props to them, but we can't just throw in the towel when they start playing better. I wanted to knock them out in three so when we visit there they are scared."

Shoji warned his team before the match that Stanford's upset of USC in football Saturday proved anything could happen in collegiate sports.

"That was supposed to be the theme of the night and obviously it didn't work ... ," he said. "A combination of three new players, and I don't find a lot of fault in their play. It was the three starters who were left in that played poorly. We reverted back to what we were doing earlier in the year. We made way too many errors.

"When you have what I think is more talent than the other team you just can't hurt yourself. That's what we did tonight. We made enough errors to keep them in games. It's discouraging because we've played well."

Hawai'i lost all its rhythm in Game 3 and then its swagger, dropping deep into a 19-6 hole as the arena reverted to shocked silence. The worse UH played — and it hit negative .065 for the game — the more confident Fresno State became. The Bulldogs ultimately won on an ace the baffled 'Bows watched hit the ground — a perfect snapshot of their ineptitude.

Third-year FSU coach Ruben Nieves characterized it as a good match for his team, after a bad spell. The Bulldogs have lost their last five, with a five-game fall Thursday against Boise State convincing Nieves to make a radical change. He played two setters last night, but instead of the "6-2" formation, which gives teams three hitters in the front row at all times and is rarely used, the Bulldogs went to an even rarer, "4-2" wrinkle.

"Front-row setters, only two attackers in all rotations, logically it shouldn't work," Nieves said. "But the fact of the matter is, when we've done it in practice and what we saw tonight, it did work for us. So, who knows? It's just another option we have for the second half of the season."

It took his unorthodox offense time to warm up, but Hawai'i was sloppy enough in the first game that when the Bulldogs finally put down a kill initiated by a setter, it pulled them within one (14-13). After the media timeout at 15-13, the Rainbow Wahine got serious with Ka'aihue serving. She scored eight points, with Aneli Cubi-Otineru drilling four kills and a block. By then, the Bulldogs had burned both timeouts and their chance.

They were outscored 17-4 to end the game, hitting zero to Hawai'i's .375 behind Juliana Sanders (4 kills, .667) and Otineru (6 and .556). Ka'aihue had 10 digs in the game and got her first collegiate kill in a second game that began with Fresno's offense suddenly going toe-to-toe with the 'Bows.

Hawai'i called its first timeout of the night trailing 12-8. Moments later, Jayme Lee served six straight to give the 'Bows a 15-14 advantage. There would be three more ties but the Bulldogs couldn't keep pace down the stretch.

It was the 'Bows who couldn't keep pace in Game 3. Shoji made his substitutions and his team lost all rhythm, with focus and fundamentals next to go.

The Rainbows went back to their starters and regained their composure in Game 4, pulling ahead 17-9 with Stephanie Brandt, Lee and Ka'aihue serving through a 9-2 run. Jamie Houston had six of her 24 kills in the final game. Otineru finished with 16 kills but the UH left-side hitters also combined on 22 errors. Fresno State out-blocked the 'Bows, 12 1/2 to 8.

Hawai'i leads 22nd-ranked New Mexico State by a half-match as it leaves tomorrow for a trip to Boise State, Idaho and Utah State. It returns next week, then heads to Lincoln for a non-conference match against top-ranked Nebraska Oct. 21. Its next home match is not until Oct. 26, against NMSU.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.