For the Hawai'i volleyball team, good service comes with a smile.

Relying on aggressive serves, the Warriors powered their way to a 30-18, 30-25, 30-24 rout of Loyola (of Chicago) last night in the Stan Sheriff Center.

A crowd of 1,010 saw the Warriors earn their first three-game victory of the season while improving to 7-9. The Ramblers are 10-7.

"Usually we're a little up and down," outside hitter Jim Clar said of the Warriors' fickle serving. "We're great sometimes, but sometimes we fall apart. This time we served aggressively the entire match. We can't hold back anymore. It's too late in the season to hold back. We have to go for it."

Settler Sean Carney said: "We've got nothing to lose. We're underdogs in every one we play. We decided, as a team, we have to be aggressive."

The Warriors scored 46 points on their 89 serves, surpassing their 35-percent goal. Every player in their rotation blasted jump serves, although opposite attacker Jake Schkud tried to mix in a jump float.

"I got a little tired in the game," Schkud said, smiling. Thirteen of his 21 serves resulted in UH points. "I wasn't feeling well. The body's getting a little older. I didn't want to give them any easy serves. I thought if I'd float (serves) to one area, it would mess them up. It kept working."

The Ramblers were never in system consistently. While setter Mike Hutz chased down errant passes, the Warriors were able to construct their block.

Matt "Dragon" Rawson had his handprints on eight of the Warriors' 15 blocks. It was fitting that UH's other middle, Steven Grgas, had a solo block of aloha ball.

"When the serves are tougher, it's easier for me to read," Grgas said. "It's not a guarantee (the set) can got anywhere. All of the blockers were reading well. We were up for every one."

Loyola coach Shane Davis said: "We couldn't get a kill. Their blocking was awesome. They took us out of it right away."

It had been a difficult two days of preparation for the Warriors, who returned from a four-match, nine-day trip to Northern California. They were swept in three games in their last match against Stanford.

What's more, they returned to school obligations. Carney did not practice Monday because he had to take a make-up test.

"Road games take a lot of our schedule," Carney said. "We don't have much time to do stuff. It's a long, tough life as a student-athlete. It's not what people think. There's a lot of hard work, a lot of times when you have no time on your hands, a lot of late-night studying. But that's not an excuse."

Because of flu-like symptoms, outside hitter Joshua Walker did not practice Monday and lasted only 20 minutes Tuesday. He did not start.

With the Ramblers trying to set double blocks in the corners, Carney opted to turn the Warriors' offense outside-in. He put up quick sets to Rawson and Grgas, and pipe sets to Clar behind the 3-meter line.

"It's real easy to run (the pipe set) when the passing is good, and this was one of our best passing nights," Carney said. "It was fun to be a setter and have these guys producing."

Clar, who has a 38-inch vertical jump, has a better view when he is hitting out of the back row.

"I love it," Clar said. "Sean puts it up there, and I get to go after it."

When the Ramblers had to defend the middle, that opened the way for Schkud on the perimeter.

"This was nice," Schkud said. "We got our ass kicked on the road. We're lucky to get a good win against a good team."

Visit Tsai's blog at www.HawaiWarriorBeat.com.

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.