LINCOLN, Neb. — Hawai'i could not master volleyball's most basic skill — the pass — in suffering a 30-22, 30-16, 30-24 drubbing to top-ranked Nebraska last night that did nothing for the Rainbow Wahine's confidence and less for their image.

The Cornhuskers did not need help winning their 29th consecutive match. They have five returning All-Americans from last year's NCAA Championship team and have been mowing over opponents all season.

They were playing before an adoring crowd of 13,396, which set an NCAA regular-season attendance record. It was the first time the 'Huskers, who sold out their last 100 matches at the NU Coliseum, filled the school's basketball arena. The match sold out 12 days ago.

Even the red-clad crowd looked disappointed in 11th-ranked Hawai'i (16-4), which lost for the first time since Sept. 3. The disturbing thing was that the 'Bows' ballhandling had been their most significant improvement since that loss to UCLA left them 3-3. Last night, it all unraveled.

"It was very disappointing because any team in the country could have served the balls we were seeing, it wasn't necessarily Nebraska," coach Dave Shoji said. "They were tough serves, but Louisiana Tech could have served as well as Nebraska."

Hawai'i was out of its element and it had nothing to do with bone-chilling wind coming across the prairie. In their 17th straight sweep, the 'Huskers (19-0) broke away in the middle of Game 1 and never looked back.

Their All-Americans appeared relatively pedestrian, with the exception of middle blocker Tracy Stalls, who did not hurt her standing as the country's second-best hitter percentage-wise by going 13-for-23 and hitting .522. That was more sets than the starting UH middles had combined.

Hawai'i kept the crowd quiet early. The first game was tied 11 times, the last at 14. But the 'Bows were already predictable. After Amber Kaufman buried the first point of the match, the Hawai'i middles would not get another kill until Juliana Sanders cut the deficit to 25-20.

Those two kills contrasted dramatically with Stalls, who had six kills in 10 swings. Not coincidentally, Nebraska's passing was nearly flawless and Hawai'i's far from it. The 'Huskers — who did not have an ace in Game 1— got five points on flat-out shanks.

Hawai'i out-blocked Nebraska 4-3 in the first and kept the last two national players of the year — Sarah Pavan (3 kills, .111) and Christina Houghtelling (2, negative .125) — from being a factor, yet was outscored 13-6 to end the game.

And, pretty much, the match. Nebraska scored the first eight points of the second game. It took Hawai'i five minutes, a timeout and a substitution (Kari Gregory for Kaufman) to get its first point. Only four straight 'Husker serving errors kept it from becoming the 'Bows' worst game loss of the season.

The 'Bows' passing woes were as relentless as the 'Huskers. By the end, even freshman libero Liz Ka'aihue — their only consistent passer early — was struggling. The 'Huskers had six aces to the Rainbows' zero.

"I thought we took Hawai'i out of the match with our serving," NU coach John Cook said. "They could never really get into a rhythm after midway through the first game. I thought our serving controlled the match."

The 'Huskers certainly controlled Hawai'i.

"Our team has to use this as a learning experience," Shoji said. "We'll go back to WAC and just try to get better. We know we're going to play somebody like Nebraska in the NCAAs and we've got to get better. We've got to prepare for that moment. It was a good experience for us to come (here). We know Nebraska is for real. You can look at scores, but to actually play them is another thing."

If this was a midterm test far from the cozy confines of the Western Athletic Conference, the Rainbows flunked. Captain Tara Hittle did not get her first kill until early in the third game, and a few shanks later Nebraska was ahead 13-8. The Rainbows were passing too poorly to even have a realistic shot at rallying, never getting within three again.

The 'Husker hitters totally eluded the UH block after Game 1 and still had 14 hitting errors. That was neatly nullified when they drilled and dinked 14 more kills than Hawai'i. Jamie Houston, the UH's lone All-American, led all hitters with 16 kills and Aneli Cubi-Otineru added nine, but each had eight hitting errors, with Nebraska's tall blockers camped on them continually because of the poor passes, and inconsistent setting.

Hawai'i knew it had to be close to perfect to beat the 'Huskers, who have won their last 53 games, do not have a discernible weakness and are the only unbeaten Division I team remaining. Instead, it was far from it.

"We just didn't pass well so we couldn't play," Houston said. "When our passing is there, I think we can play with them."

Shoji backed that up with the exception of Game 2 when "we just kind of shut down." Houston and Otineru got their kills when the passing provided them equal opportunity. Same with Sanders, who buried 6 of her 12 swings.

"There were times when we played just as well," Shoji said. "We put the ball down, we blocked. There are bright instances in some plays out there. Just not enough of them. I'm encouraged by some of the things we did do. On the other hand, we're disturbed about our passing. We made too many hitting errors, but they force you into a lot of those because their block is so good."

Maybe the only solace for UH was reaching 20 twice. Coming into the match the 'Huskers, who lead the country in hitting, kills and assists, had held opponents under 20 in 30 of their 55 games.

The Rainbow Wahine return to WAC play Friday at Stan Sheriff Center against 18th-ranked New Mexico State. Hawai'i fought off six match points to beat NMSU when the teams played last month in Las Cruces. The Aggies played at Nebraska Sept. 8 and scored 64 points against the 'Huskers — two more than Hawai'i.

"This should fire us up," said Ka'aihue, who said her team was "a little timid" with its passing. "I mean, we just got ... we just lost really bad. But we'll work hard in practice. We have a couple practices to get better, get focused again. We've got to play a perfect game against New Mexico. That's a big game for us."

NOTES

UH coach Dave Shoji adamantly supported Nebraska moving to the Devaney Center after the match. The Cornhuskers usually play in the NU Coliseum, an 80-year-old structure that holds just over 4,000. They don't want to move but Shoji, who has the only revenue-producing volleyball program in the country, disagrees.

"I think it's a matter of time before athletic departments allow us to play in the big arenas and push our sport," Shoji said. "I don't think there is any doubt that John and the Nebraska volleyball program should play in this venue and actually make money for Nebraska's program. We just need a little more help from athletic departments from around the country."

The Cornhuskers have won 53 consecutive games, with seventh-ranked UCLA the only team to take a game off them this season.

Nebraska is one of five teams with a winning record over Hawai'i. The series now stands 5-7.

The Cornhuskers are 83-11 against ranked teams since 2000, winning their last 20. Hawai'i is the ninth ranked team they have defeated this season.

Sarah Pavan became Nebraska's career kill leader in their sweep over Kansas Saturday.

Hawai'i ended Nebraska's 63-match home winning streak in the 2002 regional final in Lincoln. The 'Huskers have now won a school-record 66 home matches in a row.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.