Ninth-ranked Hawaii bounced back after an exceptionally bad streak to beat Fresno State, 25-15, 19-25, 25-14, 25-12, in a Western Athletic Conference volleyball match tonight at Stan Sheriff Center.

The result, watched by 3,402, puts the Rainbow Wahine (17-3, 10-1 WAC) a half-match ahead of New Mexico State atop the WAC standings. They are home again this week, hosting Nevada Friday and Utah State Saturday.

Kanani Herring (13), Jamie Houston (12) and Amber Kaufman (11) all had double-digit kill totals. Nickie Thomas was in on eight of the 11 blocks and libero Tara Hittle collected 16 digs. sophomore Lauren Berger and freshman Baylee Platt led FSU with 10 kills apiece.

Hawaii did not have a hitting error until it built an 11-4 advantage in the opening set. The Bulldogs (5-14, 2-8 WAC), in the midst of a seven-match losing streak, were tenacious enough to stay close despite five serving errors - until the Rainbows scored the final five points with setter Dani Mafua serving.

The Bows' balance was evident in the closing run, with Aneli Cubi-Otineru, Amber Kaufman and Houston getting kills while the defense — libero Tara Hittle had five digs — kept them in rallies. All five UH attackers had at least four swings, and two kills, with UH hitting .393.

Then, for the second straight year, the eighth-place Bulldogs bit the Bows and took a set.

While Hawaii's ballhandling faded, just as it had Friday against San Jose State, Fresno State kept coming. FSU took its first lead of the night at 3-2 and kept the pressure on while the Rainbow Wahine struggled to get good swings - or any swings.

The Bulldogs pulled ahead by as many as eight (21-13), with Platt, Lacey Gera and Berger carving up the UH block. FSU took 10 more swings than UH and had four more kills, and four aces.

The slump continued into the third set and the Bows hit bottom when they were aced on consecutive serves to fall behind 6-4. Kasey Van Grouw missed her next serve and Hawaii clawed back with Kaufman providing the initial inspiration. She had four kills and a stuff as UH pulled ahead 11-10. Kaufman then served four straight to give Hawaii separation.

The Bows had four stuffs in the set, including a triple block, to hold FSU to zero hitting (eight kills, eight errors). It did not get better for the Bulldogs in the final set, when they were out-hit .515 to .061.

NOTES

Eighth-ranked Florida lost its first Southeastern Conference match yesterday, falling to Georgia in five.