UCLA hit the accelerator on its offense in zipping to a 30-28, 30-24, 30-26 volleyball sweep of Hawai'i last night in the Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 1,809 saw the Bruins turn to a quick middle attack to rebound from Thursday night's five-game loss.

In UCLA's offense, the middles are known as quick attackers because they feast on rapid-pop sets. D.J. Stromath had a match-high 12 kills and Jamie Diefenbach buried 11 kills without an error in hitting .733.

"That's was more typical of what we can do in the middle," UCLA coach Al Scates said.

The success with the quick attack enabled Scates to stick with perimeter hitters Sean O'Malley, Garrett Muagututia and Darwin Edwards. None hit better than .250. But those three, in concert with libero Thomas Hastings, were able to handle the Warriors' toughest serves, allowing Matt Wade to set the middle.

"That was the match right there," UH setter Sean Carney said. "We were serving tough, but they buckled down and passed really well. When they're passing like that, and when you have middles that huge, it's tough. That's what makes volleyball."

Diefenbach, who is 6 feet 8, and 6-7 Stromath not only hit "heavy" spikes — fast-descending shots — but they also are skilled with their placements.

"Both of them are very strong," Scates said. "They can hit it with their wrists. They don't need a big body turn or arm motion. They get up high and look for the open spot."

Diefenbach said: "I try to put a lot of power on it. I try to get up fast ... try to beat the blockers off the floor."

In Thursday's match, the Warriors were able to plant double blocks in the middle. But last night, they often appeared to be doing mental double-clutches. Against a quick attack, a nano-second of hesitation can be harmful.

On Thursday night, "we were ready to commit" instantly, UH middle blocker Steven Grgas said. "We'd read it, then do it. It worked. There wasn't much of that this time. We were trying to guess instead of reacting."

What's more, the Bruins handled rejection well.

"When you stop one guy, it's supposed to become a mind thing," Grgas said. "But when they get blocked, they don't get down. They just keep coming back. Their setter repeats to them and repeats to them."

To be sure, the Bruins had some areas of vulnerability. Their best passer, libero Tony Ker, was unavailable because of a strained left hamstring. His replacement, freshman Hastings, was told he made the travel roster two days before the Bruins departed for Hawai'i. Thursday night's match was the first of Hasting's UCLA career.

It was in that match that outside hitter Darwin Edwards also made his collegiate debut.

"He suited up for the first time (Thursday) and he was absolutely terrible," Scates said. "And so I told him about the first time I played baseball for the varsity. I absolutely froze and struck out. I said, 'You can come back and play well, and I'm starting you.' "

What's more, plodding setter Wade was hampered further by a sore left ankle.

And, so, Scates was prepared to call in the reserves. Thursday night, first-time player Ryal Jagd buried 10 kills in two games. "He was ready," Scates said.

But as the match progressed, Scates realized, "the three outside guys were doing a good job passing. As long as they're passing well, they're going to stay in. I didn't want to take O'Malley out. He was nailing all of his passes."

O'Malley hit .179, but he was perfect in passing nine serves.

"I'm not asked to pass a whole lot of the court, but I try to do the best I can," O'Malley said. "I did it well enough so we were able to run the middle. When you run the middle, that opens up everything, and makes it an easy game."

The Warriors scrambled for solutions. Keali'i Frank replaced Matt Rawson in the middle. Brennon Dyer stepped in for fatigued outside hitter Joshua Walker.

After Thursday's exhaustive match, Walker went to Carney's place to finish an accounting project that was due yesterday. Walker was up until 4:30 in the morning.

Walker, who has emerged as the Warriors' go-to hitter, admittedly was a "little dull" at the start of the match. He had three kills and two errors in 10 swings, and missed three of his four serves. Between Games 2 and 3, he sipped Diet Pepsi.

Because of the extensive road trip next week, Walker said, "I had to make sure (the academics) were straight."

Carney said: "He absolutely did the right thing (in staying up late). He made the right decision. We had a couple of players doing homework until late. That wasn't anything decisive on the match. It's how we all played. We win as a team and we lose as a team."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.