Two volleyball teams desperately seeking the postseason are in Hawai'i this weekend to play the Western Athletic Conference's most imposing speed bump.

The third-ranked Rainbow Wahine host Fresno State tonight at 7 and Utah State Sunday at 5 p.m. Sunday's final home match is Senior Night, with Catherine Fowler, Jayme Lee, Stephanie Brandt, Amber Kaufman and Aneli Cubi-Otineru honored after the match.

If Hawai'i (21-2, 11-0 WAC) keeps its conference slate clean, and runs its winning streak to 19, it will clinch at least a tie for the regular-season championship and top seed at the WAC Tournament. The 'Bows end the regular season at Boise State (Nov. 12), Idaho (Nov. 14) and Utah State (Nov. 16).

In contrast, FSU and USU are fighting to extend their seasons. Only the top six qualify for this year's pared-down WAC Tournament. The Bulldogs (12-11, 5-6) are fourth and the Aggies (14-12, 5-8) sixth. Five teams have a legitimate shot at the final three tournament berths.

While the Rainbow Wahine fine-tune for the NCAA Tournament, focusing on passing and pushing the tempo of their offense, Fresno is thinking about finishing what it started last week in California's Central Valley. The Bulldogs took a set off Hawai'i for the third straight season; it was only the third set UH has lost in its 17-match winning streak, with New Mexico State taking the other two.

FSU, which has lost to the 'Bows all 45 times the teams have played, has a double-digit victory total for the first time in five seasons. It frustrated UH into .059 hitting in the set it won a week ago. That was Hawai'i's third-lowest attack percentage of the season and its worst in the WAC. The Rainbows are hitting .315 for the year — third-best in the country.

Utah State has lost four of its last six, but has finished above .500 every year but one since joining the WAC in 2005. Two years ago, the Aggies became the first WAC team to win in Hawai'i, ending its 108-match conference home winning streak.

Meanwhile, UH sophomore Kanani Danielson earned second-team Academic All-District 8 honors yesterday. The WAC Preseason Player of the Year is a four-time WAC Player of the Week this season and leads the WAC in kills (4.03) and points (4.55).

Last season Danielson was an AVCA All-American, making the third team as a freshman. She is studying Kinesiology and has a cumulative GPA of 3.51.

In the College Division, Central Washington junior Brandie Vea, from Honolulu, was named to the Region 8 second team, and Redlands (California) senior Kelina Smith, from Kurtistown, made the third team. Vea has a 3.30 GPA in Elementary Education and Smith a 3.85 GPA in Government.

NOTES

The first 1,500 fans tonight will receive a seat cushion from Jack In The Box. The UH Federal Credit Union will distribute team photos to the first 3,000 fans Sunday.

After winning its first 18, including a sweep of the Rainbows here two months ago, second-ranked Texas lost to eighth-ranked Iowa State Wednesday in Ames, Iowa. The Longhorns had won 27 consecutive regular-season matches. They led 9-6 in the fifth set, after Punahou graduate Sydney Yogi's ace, but ISU rallied to win it 15-12. Yogi had a career-high 16 digs and All-American Destinee Hooker a career-high 27 kills for Texas, which hit a season-low .189. UT setter Ashley Engle, who was so effective against UH, hit zero with 4 kills and 4 errors in 22 swings.

The WAC Tournament starts Nov. 23 at Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Opening day features two quarterfinal matches, at 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. (PST), with the top two seeds earning a bye. Should Hawai'i hold on to the No. 1 seed, it would open in a 7:30 p.m. semifinal on Nov. 24. The Nov. 25 championship will be at 6:30 p.m., and (tentatively) broadcast live on ESPNU at 4:30 p.m. Hawai'i time. All-session tickets are $45 and Orleans Hotel rates on tournament nights are $35.

Punahou graduate Lindsey Berg and former UH All-American Heather Bown, who won silver medals with Team USA at last year's Olympics, are both back in Italy for the professional season. Berg, who took last year off to rehabilitate, is playing for MC-Carnaghi Villa Cortese and Bown for Monte Schiavo Banca Marche Jesi. Kaiser graduate, and former Rainbow, Clay Stanley is in Qatar this week playing the FIVB Men's Club World Championship in Doha. The 2008 Olympic gold medalist is on the Zenit Kazan team from Russia.