With a balance as impressive as it will be imperative, 11th-ranked Hawai'i swept San Jose State last night. The 30-27, 30-22, 30-24 volleyball victory was watched by a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,646, and helped the Rainbow Wahine hit a milestone.

Hawai'i (15-6, 9-0 WAC) has won its last 100 regular-season conference matches — the country's longest streak — and 115 overall against Western Athletic Conference opponents. The only negative last night was that the century mark came when the 'Bows' brilliance was marred by some ragged patches and very little excitement.

"To win 100 matches in a conference like that means you've got to show up every night, and for the most part we have," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "It's really hard to fire up night after night in the conference. Tonight there just wasn't much fire. We still played OK."

The conference streaks weren't the only ones extended last night. The Rainbow Wahine have now won nine straight matches and their past 21 games.

Much to their chagrin, the Spartans (9-11, 4-4) play a prominent part in all the UH streaks. They have lost their past 26 against Hawai'i and have taken just one game off UH in the past nine matches.

"I don't think anybody in the conference believes they can beat them," SJSU coach Craig Choate said. "The biggest problem with playing Hawai'i is not the physical thing. Are they bigger, faster, stronger? Yes. But it's not like the days of (Kim) Willoughby and (Lily) Kahumoku where it didn't matter if you put six people in front of them to block because they'd just look over you and hit it.

"They can still do that to an extent now. But it's not the same. They are still really good, but I think there are a couple teams that could do it physically on a good night. But nobody believes it because they've been beat down for so long. Somebody has to break the spell."

Last night, the 'Bows showcased their balance in a match where the only suspense came when they lost focus against a San Jose State team that is always tenacious, and was coming off its biggest win of the season — a five-game comeback against WAC runner-up Nevada.

"We wanted to set some goals for ourselves. That was to try to stretch our volleyball abilities," said UH senior Ashley Watanabe, who had 24 digs. "We want to be the team we can see in the postseason. We need to start sometime soon.

"There are still things we need to work on. I don't want to say we were looking past this team, but we definitely did not play our game. The other team came out and played really well, relentless. Maybe that came as a little surprise. But we stuck together and finished what we started."

Kanoe Kamana'o, the Rainbow Wahine's All-America setter, gave seven hitters at least 11 swings. UH was led by Juliana Sanders, with 13 kills. Susie Boogaard added 10 and Victoria Prince and Sarah Mason had eight apiece, in just two games.

Prince, who sat out Thursday with stomach flu, rested in the third game. Mason's time off came with a scare.

In the midst of an 8-0 UH run early in Game 2, she landed on the foot of a San Jose attacker — much as she had the first night of the season when she sprained her right ankle and missed the next five matches. Mason sat on the floor in silence and her teammates picked her up and helped her off the court. It was quickly determined that the injury was not serious.

"It's minor," Shoji said. "It's the same ankle so I guess she got scared it was the same kind of injury, but it wasn't."

Mason, who leads the conference with nearly five kills per WAC match, could have come back if she was needed. She was not, and stayed on the bench with her .727 hitting percentage. Hawai'i was too good to let San Jose take a game away, despite the Spartans' tenacious knack for hanging around.

The Rainbows played so well early that they gave SJSU four of its first five points and still led 10-5. They kept the cushion until a 7-2 Spartan surge tied it at 26. Hawai'i called time and Alicia Arnott, in the front row for an erratic Tara Hittle, came out with a kill and an ace. After the teams traded points, Sanders and Mason stuffed game point.

Arnott took Mason's place and freshman Jamie Houston collected five kills as a front-row replacement for Hittle in Game 2. Jessica Keefe, another freshman, joined Houston in the final game.

It was all too much for the very young and small Spartans, who were led by sophomore Jennifer Senftleben and freshman Colleen Burke, with 10 kills each.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.