As rivalries go, the Hawai'i-Nevada volleyball series is in its infancy and maybe still more of wish — for both teams and the Western Athletic Conference — than a serious SmackDown.

The 15th-ranked Rainbow Wahine, with their NCAA record 129-match winning streak against WAC opponents, crave a consistent conference challenge to prepare for postseason. A Wolf Pack win in today's 4 p.m. match would launch the program to another level.

Two years ago, Nevada was within a minute of upsetting Hawai'i twice, falling in five both times. A year ago, the Pack came here with a perfect WAC record, as it does today, and fell flat on its collective face.

Nevada coach Devin Scruggs called Hawai'i's 30-16, 30-7, 30-17 victory "just really the ugliest thing I've ever seen." Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji, whose team played its best match of the season aside from the subregional win at Texas, admitted "I'm in shock ... I was waiting for them to start all night."

All the players that return remember precisely what happened, but these teams are so different now it might not matter.

"Whether we get beat like we did last year, which was slightly embarrassing," said Scruggs, "or get beat like we did the year before, which was incredibly frustrating — to be up and lose ... we've lost to Hawai'i a lot of different ways and to be honest, it really doesn't matter. A loss is a loss. We are such a different team that last year hasn't even been brought up on the trip. No one has mentioned the whipping we got last year."

It counts for nothing now.

Hawai'i (10-4, 4-0 WAC) is in the midst of a fairly impressive five-match winning streak/makeover after losing two starters for the season to injury. The Wolf Pack might not recognize this team and the 'Bows have barely had time to recall the Wolf Pack.

UH senior Sarah Mason is coming off a 14-for-21 night with no errors in Friday's victory over Utah State. She had 18 kills without a blemish against Nevada last year, when she remembers the 'Bows prepping for this WAC showdown seemingly "weeks in advance." Now, it is the second of seven matches in a dozen days and Pack preparation lasted but a day.

Nevada (10-6, 4-0) got its first win over a ranked opponent in more than a year when it upset then-No. 22 New Mexico State last Saturday. It returns familiar players, but starts four freshmen and is without its most fearsome all-WAC face with Salaia Salave'a gone after four years.

"Three of our kids have been around this. They've seen the whole gamut," Scruggs said. "The biggest difference this year is we have to rely on everyone. If one person is struggling it's not quite as bad as last year, when if Salaia was struggling it fell apart."

Now Nevada juniors Teal Ericson (4 kills a game) and Karly Sipherd (3) are usually the brawn behind the offense, but fourth-year setter Tristin Johnson remains the brains. She didn't play here a year ago. The 'Bows did not miss her.

"Their setter has given us all kinds of problems in the past," Shoji said. "We really need to be aware of where she is and what she's doing. I remember she got eight kills in a game against us two or three years ago — in one game. She averages 1 1/2 a game, which is extremely high for a setter, so I hope our players are aware of where she is."

They were the minute the blitz of Utah State was over Friday.

"The goal is to let her have zero kills," UH setter Kanoe Kamana'o said of Johnson. "The one thing that sticks in your mind when you think of Nevada is that their setter is very offensive."

Just the thought of the Rainbow Wahine focusing on Johnson makes Scruggs, and her hitters, happy. "I'm glad they're talking about it," the coach said. "That means they are already thinking about it."

NOTES

Boise State plays here tomorrow at 7 p.m. The Rainbow Wahine then leave on their second road trip of the season and play at Louisiana Tech Wednesday and New Mexico State Friday. Both matches will be broadcast live on 1420 AM.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.