A year ago it was Nevada. This season, New Mexico State and Utah State took the challenge. All have come close to ending eighth-ranked Hawai'i's choke hold on Western Athletic Conference volleyball.

But, going into tomorrow's WAC Tournament, no WAC team has beaten the Rainbow Wahine (22-6) in more than seven years. They take a streak of 122 straight wins over WAC opposition into their opening match against the winner of the Louisiana Tech (15-17)-Boise State (7-17) play-in match.

Some years, this tournament, which UH has won ever since its epic WAC final against Brigham Young in 1998, has only been a speed bump on the way to the NCAA postseason. There have been warning signs the dominance could end. All three of the other top-four seeds have gone five against UH the past two seasons. So far, no WAC opponent has been able to finish the 'Bows off.

Fourth-seeded Nevada, which hosts the tournament at its Lawlor Events Center, had two great opportunities last year. Nevada fell in the fifth both times, then lost to UH in four at the WAC Championship.

"They are just a stronger team," Wolf Pack coach Devin Scruggs says. "If they're not playing well we have an opportunity to compete with them. If we're both playing well, then they're going to win.

"They have the best setter in the conference, the best middle in the conference, depth on the outside. Player for player they are stronger than all of us."

It shows in the WAC statistics, where Hawai'i is first in every category but serving and digs. It shows in the bloated numbers the Rainbow Wahine collect during the conference season. Sometimes it shows before the match starts, when Hawai'i's aura overwhelms the other side.

Second-seeded Utah State and third-seeded New Mexico State were not intimidated as WAC rookies. After getting hammered here, USU took UH to five in Logan two weeks ago. Then the 'Bows "seasoning," athleticism and ballhandling took over, according to coach Burt Fuller.

"Hawai'i has got such good components," Fuller said. "Kanoe (Kamana'o) bails them out a lot. She puts up a hittable ball out of a bad situation. They are probably one of the best defending teams I've seen.

"If they don't have the same experienced firepower they've had in the past, they still have very talented attackers and, with their defense and Kanoe, they keep giving themselves opportunities. So maybe instead of ending the rally in one or two plays, maybe they're winning it in three or four. They have that ability to hang around in the rally, which allows them to score. When you give a team that many chances to score, they're going to score on you."

New Mexico State had two good shots at Hawai'i this season. Both were just off the mark. The Aggies lost 15-10 in the fifth in Las Cruces and 15-12 here last week, when the Rainbows scored the final four points.

The Aggies out-hit and out-dug UH in that match. They had a superior middle attack and better balance. So, coach Mike Jordan keeps wondering, what is holding his team back?

"The reality is that Hawai'i is just better than everybody else in this league," Jordan said, echoing Scruggs. "When push comes to shove, the best team wins. It's a matter of playing consistently well enough through the course of the match to beat a great team, and that's tough to do.

"When we played them depth was an issue. We have a third outside hitter who has a knee injury, so she can't play. If I wanted to take somebody out I'd have to put in a walk-on freshman, where (UH coach) Dave (Shoji) puts in Jamie Houston. Yeah, she's a freshman, but she's gifted. ... We've got the kind of athletes that can play for Hawai'i, we just don't have a lot of them."

They might get one final 2005 opportunity to beat the conference bully this week, and each has added incentive, as if they would need it.

Saturday's WAC champion receives the conference's automatic NCAA bid. Nevada (16-11) probably has to win to get in. Utah State (19-11) and New Mexico State (19-6), who wouldn't play Hawai'i before Saturday, believe they might still have a chance for an at-large bid. "We're definitely on the good side of the bubble," Jordan said.

NOTES

Tomorrow's first-round Hawai'i match will be carried live on Sports Radio (1420 AM). If UH advances, the station will do updates Friday during the UH football coverage and carry Saturday's championship live.

UH junior setter Kanoe Kamana'o needs 44 assists to surpass Martina Cincerova and move into first on the UH career assists list. Kamana'o has the record for career assists per game (13.67).

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.