After changing faces to help save face the first two weeks, seventh-ranked Hawai'i voluntarily played everyone last night and still overpowered Cincinnati, 30-21, 30-17, 30-22, in the opening round of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,989 saw the Rainbow Wahine (3-3) reach .500 for the first time this season, and defeat their 203rd consecutive unranked opponent.

The benchmark also served as an introduction. All 15 healthy 'Bows played, and well for the most part. The UH block also came out of hiding with 13 1/2 stuffs. Even senior libero Ashley Watanabe showed a new side, knocking off her first kill in her 78th collegiate match.

"It was exciting because everybody did get to play and everybody played wonderful," said UH senior Susie Boogaard, who had a match-high 15 kills on .371 hitting, and collected a team-high 13 digs. "It's nice to know that anybody on our team can be part of this. Everybody came in and made a great play right away."

The Bearcats (1-3) were scrappy, resilient and unable to stop anyone UH put on the floor. Reed Sunahara, a Hilo High graduate, is the program's winningest coach and has taken his team to the NCAA Tournament four of the past five years. But four underclassmen and 34 kills couldn't get it done.

UH coach Dave Shoji, anxious to reward his players for practicing hard and prevent 10th-ranked UCLA from scouting, started a new lineup every game.

The first looked much like what he had played last week, to compensate for losing three outside hitters to injury.

In Game 2, he inserted freshman Jessica Keefe for Cayley Thurlby in the front row. In Game 3, it was freshman Nickie Thomas, with Kari Gregory in the middle and Alicia Arnott, still somewhat flu-weakened, on the left for freshman Jamie Houston.

The three right-side hitters provided drastically different looks and extremely efficient results. They combined for 10 kills, hit nearly .400, and dropped in on seven of the UH stuffs.

"Cayley brings energy. She is playing wonderful, she can pass and is an all-around great player," Boogaard said. "Nickie brings a big block and she was doing great. Jessica came up with a huge block and a huge kill."

Cincinnati was led by lone senior Maria Pongonis with 13 kills. Tellingly, she had 10 errors as the Bearcats hit .088 as a team.

"Their blocking was outstanding," Sunahara said. "Why now? The reason is they are feeling a little comfortable playing with each other. They played the same starting lineup a few nights in a row now. And, they're great athletes."

Once Hawai'i figured a way to get past Cincinnati's defense — particularly libero Melissa Zenz, who finished with 20 digs — it cruised. The points were most plentiful with setter Kanoe Kamana'o firing over a low, flat serve that caused poor passes.

She instigated five- and six-point runs to help the 'Bows pull away in Game 1. Those surges were powered by a front row of Thurlby, Houston and Juliana Sanders, who combined for 13 of UH's 17 kills and hit .360. They also helped Hawai'i to six blocks, as the Bearcats hit zero (9 kills, 9 errors).

UH lost the first point and never trailed again in Game 2. It pulled ahead 16-10 with Kelly Ong serving and pulled away with Kamana'o again on the endline, getting offense from Sanders, Houston and Keefe. Boogaard was 8 for 18 in that game.

The turning point in Game 3 came when Gregory, Thomas and Arnott threw a block party with Kamana'o again serving. Suddenly a two-point advantage was a 21-14 gap the Bearcats could not close.

The 'Bows play Cal State Northridge tonight and UCLA tomorrow. Last night, the Bruins (4-0) used all 17 players to sweep the Matadors, 30-21, 30-20, 30-26.

Nana Meriwether, UCLA's kill, block and hitting leader, kept up her torrid pace. The junior had a match-high 13 kills and hit .650 without an error. Colby Lyman, MVP of last week's tournament at Reno, hit for negative numbers (2 kills, 3 errors) last night.

The Bruins lost five seniors from last year's team and brought in one transfer and seven freshmen, including starting setter Nellie Spicer. They remain unbeaten, with one victory over a ranked team (No. 20 San Diego) and a remarkable rally against Nevada, from 9-14 down in the fifth game.

"I like where we're at and where we're going to be able to go with this team," UCLA coach Andy Banachowski said. "It's just that we've got to get there in two days."

Northridge (2-5), which lost all the starters off last year's NCAA Tournament team, was outscored 12-5 to end the match. It got 12 kills from freshman Val Kepler, who hit .370 and was in on four of her team's seven stuffs.

The Matadors hit just .153 for the match — .097 in the first two games.

NOTES

Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji hopes to use Tara Hittle in the front row for the first time tonight. Hittle sprained her ankle Aug. 12 and has played backrow the past four matches. She has been the UH libero the last two. Shoji also hopes to get Sarah Mason in for the first time since she sprained her ankle in the season opener.

Today's 4:30 p.m. match between UCLA and Cincinnati will be the first time Hilo's Reed Sunahara has coached against the Bruins. Sunahara was a two-time All-American at UCLA, where he won three national championships before graduating in 1989.

UCLA's Andy Banachowski needs 12 wins to become the first collegiate women's volleyball coach with 1,000 victories.

Second-ranked Washington comes in next weekend for two matches (Sept. 16 and 17). The Rainbows don't have a ranked team on their schedule after that.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.