Whatever hold Hawai'i had on New Mexico State evaporated a year ago, before 2,800 boisterous volleyball fans in the Las Cruces High School gym.

Both teams start today's match at Pan American Center at zero. Both are ranked (UH is 13th, NMSU 25th), 3-0 in the Western Athletic Conference and anxious to see if they can overcome the the painful inconsistencies of opening month against their toughest WAC opponent.

The Aggies ended the Rainbows' NCAA-record 132-match conference winning streak in Las Cruces last year, despite getting out-hit, out-blocked and outscored. After dominating Game 1, a UH team much like this one let two games get away — losing the last five points of Game 2 and letting a 20-13 advantage disappear in Game 4 — before falling 15-13 in the fifth.

A year earlier, NMSU lost to Hawai'i twice in five games in its first year as a WAC member.

"The days of intimidation and stuff like that, if that was ever true, are over," New Mexico State coach Mike Jordan said. "The players generally believe now that if we play well enough, we have a shot at winning against Hawai'i. They might have been uncertain that first year."

The Aggies (11-2) have played well enough to beat every team but top-ranked Nebraska and then-sixth-ranked Texas this season. First-year hitters Lindsey Yon and Krista Altermatt, who nabbed two of the four WAC Player of the Week honors, are combining for eight kills a game and give NMSU twice as many terminators as it had last year on the left. All-conference middles Amber Simpson and Kim Oguh are averaging three kills each, and hitting around .400.

Still, Jordan has seen enough of what UH coach Dave Shoji calls "gross errors" from his team to be hesitant. In Thursday's win over Utah State, Yon hit for negative numbers (12 kills, 14 errors). While replacing all-WAC setter Jackie Choi has gone about as well as could be expected, installing a new two-setter system has had its problems.

It sounds suspiciously like something out of Hawai'i's early-season playbook, full of pratfalls and potential, gut-wrenching lapses and gutsy comebacks.

"I don't think us or Hawai'i is as good as we were last year at this point," Jordan admitted. "That's not to say either of us couldn't be better. We've just made a lot more unforced errors than last year. It has a lot to do with the new system and new players. ... When we're playing our 'A' game we are very good. The problem is when we're playing our 'F' game."

Shoji points to Simpson and Oguh as the players Hawai'i has to stop tonight. They were slowed the last two times the teams met last year. UH won both in four.

Jordan's focus starts with serving tough, particularly when UH setter Stephanie Brandt is in the front row. That forces the Hawai'i attack to rely on left-side hitters Jamie Houston and Aneli Cubi-Otineru, unless its passing improves dramatically.

"We're big and physical enough on the antenna to make life difficult for Jamie and Aneli," Jordan said. "We're also athletic enough to deal with their backrow attack. If Hawai'i stays in system, it's got more athletes than we do. If we can get them out of system, we'll be OK."

The 'Bows' ballhandling will be their second most compelling concern tonight, right after their state of mind. Focus has been an issue all season. Today, as NMSU attempts to "Pack the Pan Am" and break the attendance record of 7,115 set two years ago against UH, they will be in an environment nothing like what they have seen — or felt — before.

"We can't have any weakness in our game," Shoji said simply. "We've got to be good at all our skills and tactical play. We just need to be smarter and play well.

"I still think we have more weapons. I'm hoping they are all on and New Mexico State can't really stack the block against Houston or anyone else. We cannot be left-side dominant."

Shoji hinted he might "tweak the lineup again." After losing just two starters from last season's top-10 team, he has been playing five new starters, but is "not completely sold" on his new alignment. Jordan will start the players who brought him into the rankings this week, most of whom were part of that record-busting win a year ago.

It was enough to get the Aggies their first NCAA Tournament-large bid, after being denied in 2005 and qualifying as Sun Belt champion the previous two years. A win tonight would probably clinch it again, Jordan believes ... if his team doesn't end Hawai'i's nine-year reign as WAC champion and get the accompanying automatic berth.

NOTES

Today's match, which begins at 3 p.m. HST, will not be broadcast on the radio because of the UH football pregame show. ESPN Radio (1420 AM) will provide updates. Monday's match at San Jose State will be broadcast live, at 4 p.m.

Kamehameha senior Kanani Herring, who verbally committed to play for Hawai'i earlier this year, is ranked fifth in the PrepVolleyball.com Senior Aces list. The Honolulu Advertiser's two-time state Player of the Year was characterized by the Web site as "impossible to contain" with "her blazing first step, 10-3 leap and complete array of shots." It also praised her ballhandling ability and contributions to the 2007 U.S. Youth National Team.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.