LAS VEGAS — Third-ranked Hawai‘i blasted by New Mexico State tonight, 25-12, 25-17, 25-23, in the Western Athletic Conference Tournament championship to win its 12th consecutive WAC volleyball title.

At Orleans Arena, the top-seeded Rainbow Wahine (28-2) got a match-high 14 kills from WAC Player of the Year Kanani Danielson.
Hawai‘i will go into the NCAA Tournament on a 24-match winning streak. Pairings will be announced Sunday.
The ‘Bows also extended their WAC Tournament winning streak to 30. They are 33-2 in this tournament, losing in the 1996 and ’97 finals to Brigham Young.
It was the fourth straight year UH defeated NMSU (19-9) in the tournament final, but the first time the Aggies were swept.
After dominating the serving and passing portion of the game in the opening set, the ‘Bows ripped off the final nine points to close with a flourish. Liz Ka‘aihue served the final eight, becoming the fourth Rainbow Wahine to get an ace — and she had two.
Ka‘aihue was back at it almost immediately, serving four in a row to give Hawai‘i a 7-2 advantage in Set 2. The Aggies never got closer than four again as UH hit .500 for the set, with Danielson drilling five kills and every other hitter getting two.
The Aggies found some life to start the third set, scoring five of the first six points while holding the ‘Bows without a kill.
NMSU held the lead until Hawai‘i tied it at 21 on a stuff by seniors Aneli Cubi-Otineru and Amber Kaufman.
Kaufman’s sixth kill tied at 22 and Stephanie Ferrell made it 23-22 before an NMSU hitting error gave UH match point.
The first was erased, but Cubi-Otineru crushed her ninth kill to end it.
She was named to the all-tournament team for the third straight year, while Danielson was named MVP.