In a match not as hard as it initially looked, even back in March, 10th-ranked Hawai'i found its volleyball rhythm at the end of the opening set and cruised to a 25-22, 25-16, 25-8 win over Saint Mary's last night in the Chevron Rainbow Wahine Invitational.

In the tournament opener, ninth-ranked Washington took apart Pacific, 25-13, 25-11, 25-13. The Huskies (6-0) play the Gaels (5-1) tonight at 5, with the Rainbow Wahine (5-2) following against UOP (0-6).

"They are probably the best team that hasn't won a match in the country," UH coach Dave Shoji said of UOP, which is led by former assistant Charlie Wade. "It's a little scary because they have a pretty solid ballclub."

So does Saint Mary's, which started all three of its Hawai'i players — 'Iolani graduates Megan Burton and Kapua Kamana'o, and freshman Chanteal Satele out of Word of Life — last night before 3,706 at Stan Sheriff Center. But Saint Mary's was too little all night, and too overwhelmed late.

"Our girls were ready to play and obviously started pretty well," said SMC coach Rob Browning. "Hawai'i made good adjustments on us and they played better as the match went on and we, at best, just plateaued.

"No question they are better than we are. We were out-gunned. But not just physically. We knew that they were more physical and bigger, but they out-dug us and made little plays that we pride ourselves on doing on our side of the net."

Kamana'o said all her sister Kanoe, a former Hawai'i All-American, told her prior to the match was to "put your heart into it." Kamana'o was disappointed her team "didn't play Saint Mary's volleyball, didn't play how we know we can play."

At least not all night. The first set was tied 10 times with neither team able to stop the other. The Rainbow Wahine let a 17-14 advantage get away, along with SMC middle Shannon Lowell, who buried eight kills without an error to take her team to a 22-20 advantage.

It was similar to the teams' spring scrimmage here in March, which Saint Mary's won. But Hawai'i freshman Kanani Herring was still at Kamehameha then and not available to rip two kills to tie it as she did in the first set, then drop in with Nickie Thomas to stuff Lowell.

It was the 'Bows' first block of the night and Stephanie Brandt, subbed in to serve and then set, followed it with an ace after a Saint Mary's timeout. After one of many long rallies, Herring's sixth kill ended it.

"We were just patient and steadily did our assignments, did what we had to do and ended up on top," said UH setter Dani Mafua. "If we try and force things then definitely it would have been a struggle. But we were just calm and collected and just played."

The Gaels never really recovered. The 'Bows found their block, and every one of their hitters seemed to find a smaller St. Mary's player to go over.

"I think it really picked up when they got ahead in the first set," said Thomas. "How we ended that whole set and Brandt came in and (Jessica) Keefe came in and made really awesome plays and our volleyball really picked up."

The 'Bows took off on a 16-5 surge in the second set that put them ahead, 19-9. Hawai'i hit .394 in the set, stuffed four balls and dug 16.

In the middle, the Gaels hit zero with Lowell and Burton each nullifying two kills and with as many errors. Thomas and Amber Kaufman also had two kills apiece without any errors and went into the third set hitting a combined .600.

The UH middle would finish with 14 kills on 24 errorless swings, while Herring collected the third double-double of her young career (11 kills, 12 digs) and Mafua got her second (29 assists, 12 digs). Libero Tara Hittle had a match-high 14 digs as the 'Bows out-dug SMC, 57-38.

Even the reserves got in on the good stuff, with Stephanie Ferrell 6-for-7, Brandt playing brilliantly and Liz Ka'aihue seeing her first action of the season and acing match point.

UH substituted liberally in the final set and never lost its rhythm, going on a 10-1 run to take control at 12-3. The Gaels did not get within 10 again.

"I was really happy we could stay with them (in the first set)," Shoji said. "I thought eventually they may come down, and they did. We were really steady in Game 1 and then they had breakdowns and we stayed the same."

Washington swept its sixth straight opponent, led by Jill Collymore, who had 13 kills without an error and hit .565. UW hit .525 as a team, to UOP's .119. Kalani graduate Tamari Miyashiro collected a match-high 10 digs for UW.

Half the Tigers' losses have come against ranked teams. Wade also used all three of his Hawai'i players. UOP was led by Mallori Gibson's 11 kills.

QUICK SETS

The Invitational concludes tomorrow with Pacific and Saint Mary's at 5 p.m., and Washington and UH at approximately 7.