Louisiana Tech and Nebraska are polar opposites when it comes to women's volleyball. Still, what a difference a week has made in Hawai'i.

Two days after torching 13th-ranked New Mexico State, the 11th-ranked Rainbow Wahine lit up Louisiana Tech last night, 30-20, 30-15, 30-16. The Western Athletic Conference match was watched by 3,919 at Stan Sheriff Center.

A week earlier, the 'Bows (18-4, 12-0 WAC) were the ones getting bashed by the top-ranked Cornhuskers, before 13,000 in Lincoln, Neb. Apparently, they learned a lot.

"It's mental focus," said senior Juliana Sanders. "We're mentally getting tougher. We have all the weapons and people to do the job. We just need to get a lot more mentally tough. There are still instances in the game where there's a lack of concentration and we shut down. But we're getting better at that."

The Aggies and Techsters felt the Rainbows' wrath this weekend. Their magic number melted to two for yet another conference regular-season title and grabbing the No. 1 seed for next month's WAC Tournament.

Louisiana Tech (6-20, 1-12) was erased in less than 90 minutes. Hawai'i hit .330, with Jamie Houston (17 kills), Sanders (10) and Kari Gregory (three in one game) all above .440. The Techsters attacked at a frigid .059.

"If we had an offense like our blocking and defense then we might be middle-of-the-pack WAC," said Tech coach Heather Mazeitis. "But our offense will struggle. That's the deal."

For the first few minutes it didn't matter. Louisiana Tech picked up practically everything the Rainbows ripped over and mustered enough offense to stay within 17-15 before the 'Bows took over — for good, ultimately. Hawai'i was too talented and tenacious and it didn't seem to matter who was playing or if the Techsters were at their scrappy best or weak-attack worst.

"Tech played extremely well the first half of that first game," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "They dug everything we hit and our players really stayed patient. Sometimes when we get dug we start to try to do too much and hit out, but we really hung in there. I has happy for Louisiana Tech. They were side-outing and digging, but they just couldn't keep it up."

After being challenged early UH outscored LaTech 13-5 to win the first game — and erase memories of the last meeting, when the Techsters took a game off UH for the first time. In the second, Sanders, Houston and Aneli Cubi-Otineru combined on 15 kills and .700 hitting.

Dani Mafua took over the setting mid-game and again split time with starter Stephanie Brandt in Game 3. Defensive specialists Raeceen Woolford, Rayna Kitaguchi and Elise Duggins also got in. Gregory and Jessica Keefe started the final game. By the time Caroline Blood came in with UH leading 23-10 in Game 3, all 16 Rainbow Wahine had seen time.

Blood almost immediately buried her second kill of the season — from the backrow yet — and freshman Amanda Simmons ended the match with the second ace of her collegiate career.

"There's a lot more confidence but it also speaks of who you're playing," Simmons admitted. "There's a big difference between Nebraska and LaTech. There's a lot more hype about Nebraska because of all the big hitters and how difficult it was going to be. But there was a lot more courage and confidence in these matches. We know anyone on our team can do it."

Particularly after the first game. The Techsters had 16 spectacular digs in Game 1 and 17 the rest of the night. They hit .015 in the final two games, to Hawai'i's .382.

But the huge discrepancy also spoke to an extremely efficient Hawai'i game, from all 16 players. Sanders called it a new "sense of urgency." Mafua said the goal from now to the WAC Tournament is to "keep progressing at this pace and even faster."

These teams could meet again Nov. 15, on the opening night of that tournament. The top seed plays the winner of the morning's "play-in" match between the eighth and ninth teams.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.