Anyone else want to know what Rainbow Wahine volleyball ate on the way from Idaho to Nevada last month?

A Hawai'i team that had struggled with problems both real (injuries and shaky ball control) and self-inflicted (conflicts and confusion) was hard-to-watch weak in wins at Idaho and Boise the final week of the regular season. It magically transformed into a national contender to win the Western Athletic Conference Tournament over Thanksgiving weekend.

At last week's NCAA subregional in California, the 'Bows blew by Oregon and Long Beach State. They decked the Ducks so thoroughly all coach Dave Shoji said to them the final two timeouts was, "Don't do anything to wake these guys up." The 49ers were so frustrated, one of their players wanted to fight in Game 2.

What suddenly turned a group of erratic, tentative players into passing, blocking, spiking, celebrating fools? And can the magic continue tomorrow, when the 12th-seeded 'Bows play fifth-seeded Southern California in the Honolulu Regional?

"A month ago we only hoped to be here in the postseason," senior Kanoe Kamana'o said. "We composed ourselves and our attitude has been so competitive. It's not hope now. It's like, we can."

The Rainbow Wahine point to that terrible trip to Idaho in mid-November as the low point, and their turning point. They were coming off their best match — an imposing payback win against New Mexico State on Senior Night — and heading into the postseason with all their problems presumably in the past.

And absolutely no motivation. Idaho and Boise State gave them a reality check, pushing them to four games and making them fight for every point, which is not all that common in the WAC.

"They were matches where you don't know what's going on," junior Kari Gregory recalled. "You don't know why everything is going wrong."

From the wreckage, and through the rest of the 12-day trip, the 'Bows put themselves back together for this closing surge. What they came up with has been remarkable, working from the inside out.

"We got more comfortable with each other on the long road trip, closer," sophomore Jamie Houston said.

And meaner. "This team has a little bit of an edge to it now, which is good," associate coach Kari Ambrozich added. "It's what we've been looking for."

The detailed game plans first-year associate coach Mike Sealy drew up began to click, as did his blocking schemes. In the past five matches, Hawai'i is averaging more than five roofs a game. To put that in context, Utah leads the country at 3.71. Gregory went off in the sweep of Oregon, with 14 stuffs.

Hawai'i's passing — the bane of its existence early — steadied. Ambrozich believes part of the reason is that Houston and Sarah Mason have been so successful offensively there is not as much pressure to make the perfect pass. Shoji thinks his team got bored by all the repetitions.

And, few balls fall softly to the floor now. The defense swarmed so hard at Long Beach, libero Jayme Lee kicked a ball over and Gregory tried.

But the most compelling difference has been Hawai'i's personality. Celebration has become a work of art for a team that was only finger painting back in September. The Rainbows feel a sense of urgency, and are having fun.

"The biggest thing is, the emotion has changed, the passion," Gregory said. "Anytime we do anything the cheering is completely different. The enthusiasm after a good play is ridiculous. I saw some film and I was almost embarrassed at what I do, but there are some really cool pictures of us celebrating after plays and it sums it up. Our team is all about emotion now. It's all about us. We've got to be more emotional than the other team."

Shoji, forced to choose a catalyst, points at Mason, who has found a remarkably effective way to channel her anger the final month of her college career.

"She has come the farthest, first of all in her game, and second in her attitude in practice," Shoji said. "Somewhere in the middle of the season she realized she was a senior and needed to be a little more intense and serious and dedicated to the game. There was a huge turnaround for her in her game and personal life."

Mason describes it as desire that "ignites a fire" and "brings the passion back." She likes to "get ridiculously excited about every play." This resurgence is not a surprise to her.

"I always felt we would take everybody by surprise," Mason said. "We've had to overcome so much — injuries and team conflicts ... but now we can handle anything. Our heart can take us so far."

NOTES

Former Rainbow Wahine Karin Lundqvist and Kim Willoughby are here in the midst of career volleyball moves.

Lundqvist's beach partner suffered an injury. She is now planning to try to qualify for the 2008 Olympics for Sweden with Angelica Ljungquist, the former UH All-American and 1996 national player of the year. Ljungquist is currently playing indoors in Japan and Lundqvist is heading to Brazil to train.

Willoughby, the 2003 national player of the year, is here to get her visa and passport renewed before she goes to play professionally in Italy. Her team is located within an hour of the teams that Lily Kahumoku and Punahou grad Lindsey Berg play for.

Kahumoku, a three-time All-American out of Kamehameha, played at UH with Willoughby.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.