RENO, Nev. — If eight straight was great for the University of Hawai'i volleyball team, nine Western Athletic Conference championships are sublime. Particularly when it really means something.

The 12th-ranked Rainbow Wahine (26-5) captured the WAC Tournament title and clinched an NCAA Tournament berth with a 30-27, 30-20, 29-31, 30-22 victory over 21st-ranked New Mexico State last night. The final was watched by 921 at Lawlor Events Center.

It was only the third WAC match between ranked teams since Hawai'i won its first WAC title in 1998. All three have been this year, between these teams.

The breadth of top-seeded Hawai'i's dominance of the No. 2 seed last night was matched only by the focus the 'Bows found the final week of the WAC season.

They slammed Fresno State and flicked away tenacious San Jose State to get to last night's final and the team they wanted most. Then, still seething from last month's loss in Las Cruces, which ended their NCAA-record 132-match conference winning streak, the Rainbows whipped their closest pursuers.

There were 21 emphatic stuffs, 11 aces with a message and an attack that was relentless from every angle. The Aggies (33-3) could not cope.

This match was nearly identical to Hawai'i's payback purge of NMSU two weeks ago in Manoa, down to the sincerity of the Rainbows' anger and the brilliance brought on by their sense of urgency.

"When we won Game 3 and we were starting to serve well there was no question we had a chance," NMSU coach Mike Jordan said. "We just couldn't get it done on the left tonight."

Hawai'i roofed the Aggies' left side into submission. Alice Borden, NMSU's best hitter, found only one way past the 'Bow block — out of bounds. She hit negative .122 for the night and was pulled with her team down 5-2 in the fourth. She had nine kills and 14 errors and no one came close to making up for her.

"That might have been the worst match of her career," Jordan said.

She was No. 1 on the Hawai'i volleyball hit list when the gameplan was drawn up. Setter Kanoe Kamana'o (eight blocks) and middles Juliana Sanders and Kari Gregory (nine each) terminated the Aggies' terminator.

"We knew her tendencies and we just took it away," said the 5-foot-7 Kamana'o. "She had nowhere else to go."

In contrast, the Rainbow Wahine took turns terrorizing New Mexico State and out-served and passed the team that had embarrassed them in those areas back in Las Cruces.

It started with Sarah Mason and freshman Amber Kaufman combining for nine first-game kills, as the 'Bows bounced back from a 16-11 deficit with a 7-2 run. Then six straight points with Jamie Houston serving gave UH the separation it needed at 27-23.

Mason had a match-high 18 kills, with 16 digs, four blocks and four aces. It was another breathtakingly versatile performance that came with a kicker: Mason was also the angry catalyst for the surge that put the second game away.

When her kill was erased because a line official said she hit the ball outside the antenna, Mason was incensed. She received a yellow warning card, got another verbal warning when she said something, then proceeded to lead the Rainbows on a 22-10 streak.

"I've always been a really intense player," Mason said. "I always say don't (tick) me off because that just makes me play better."

Houston, the tournament MVP, had seven kills in that game and 16 for the night. The 'Bows also put up six blocks and held the Aggies to .056 hitting and a dozen kills.

But, just as they had in Hawai'i, the Aggies sucked it up to win the third game, barely holding onto a 27-22 advantage.

But nothing had really changed. New Mexico State's left side was ineffective and the 'Bows' blocking and serving were too good to let NMSU middles Kim Oguh (14 kills) and Amber Simpson (12) get away.

The Aggies called their last timeout trailing 12-3 in the fourth. They wouldn't get closer than six again. Mason's final kill ricocheted high off a NMSU player and dropped out of bounds as Kamana'o stomped her feet in anticipation.

"I think we had a little more sense of urgency since they did beat us," Shoji said. "We had to have some motivation besides winning the WAC. I think the rubber match is something our players really wanted. We still think about the loss a lot so this is nice to have."

The Rainbow Wahine will find out where they go for the NCAA's first round tomorrow. The selection show will be live on ESPN News at 10 a.m. Hawai'i time. UH will host an NCAA Regional Dec. 8 and 9.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.