Idaho stuffed sixth-ranked Hawai'i into anything but submission last night, coming close twice then falling to a third-set volleyball onslaught as the Rainbow Wahine swept into tomorrow's Western Athletic Conference Tournament final.

The 'Bows (25-3) opened and closed like 10-time defending WAC champions the first two sets — getting blocked repeatedly in between — then smashed the Vandals in the third for a 25-21, 26-24, 25-14 semifinal victory.

Third-seeded Idaho's season ended at 19-10 before a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,972, but the 'Bows knew they barely survived the first two sets.

"I think we saw the reason Idaho is ranked highly in blocks per set," said UH coach Dave Shoji. "They had seven in the first set and I'm not sure how we won it because they out-hit us and out-blocked us, but we did play pretty good defense behind a non-existent block."

The Rainbow Wahine, who needed 34 minutes to get their first block, will play top-seeded New Mexico State for the championship for the third straight year at 3 p.m. tomorrow. The 'Bows are on a 26-match WAC Tournament winning streak going back to 1997, while the Aggies have won their last 15 this season. They swept Hawai'i here five weeks ago.

Idaho had the same idea last night, and the blockers to do it. The country's fourth-best blocking team left Jamie Houston and Amber Kaufman as the only Rainbow hitters in positive numbers in the opening set, and still UH won with four aces from Aneli Cubi-Otineru and five kills in seven swings from Houston.

Cubi-Otineru launched three straight aces as the 'Bows went up 7-3, but the Vandals rallied behind their big block, tying it at 11. The set was tied for the eighth and final time at 18.

Hawai'i scored seven of the last 10 mostly by avoiding the block and refusing to let the ball fall on its side. Two phenomenal digs from Cubi-Otineru and Liz Ka'aihue salvaged the 24th point.

"Hawai'i is one of the top teams in the country and you can't allow huge gaps of points," said Idaho coach Debbie Buchanan in a halting voice. "If you let too many go, you're constantly trying to catch up. You've got to stay with a good team."

Hawai'i held Haley Larsen, averaging a WAC-best 4 1/2 kills a set, to three in the opener — two coming on UH net violations. She made up for it in the second, bringing the Vandals back from an early six-point deficit with seven kills. A bunch more blocks, and a serve into the net at set point, helped them catch UH at 24 with their fifth stuff.

The 'Bows called their last timeout and freshman Kanani Danielson got them to set point again with her sixth kill — to go with six hitting errors. Stephanie Brandt and Kaufman blocked Larsen on the next serve; the Vandals dug the ball, but Larsen launched it out to end it.

"Kanani has got to be more aware of where the block is," UH coach Dave Shoji said of his WAC Freshman of the Year, who finished with seven kills and six errors, but atoned with a match-high 10 digs. "There are times when you can attack the block and times when you have to try a different shot. She's got to learn that. She will learn that."

Hawai'i had another hot start in the final set, forcing Idaho to call both timeouts by ripping to a 9-1 advantage. Kaufman served 10 in a row and soon Shoji was subbing to rest for Sunday.

Kaufman finished with three aces and Cubi-Otineru four, to go with 11 kills; after hitting zero in the first set, Cubi-Otineru was 8 for 11 in the final two. Houston also had 11 kills and she and Nickie Thomas were in on five blocks apiece.

Buchanan and Larsen both pointed to passing and Hawai'i's offense as the difference. The Vandals simply did not have enough weapons, with Larsen's 14 kills nearly half their total. She was the only Idaho starter to hit higher than .077 as UH out-hit the Vandals .196 to .096.

NEW MEXICO STATE 3, SAN JOSE STATE 0

The top-seeded Aggies ran their winning streak to 15 with a 25-18, 25-22, 25-18 victory over the fifth-seeded Spartans in the earlier semifinal. San Jose State (13-17) closes its season Wednesday against San Francisco.

NMSU (23-7) now has 12 sweeps during its winning streak. Hawai'i's sweep in Las Cruces two months ago was the Aggies' only loss since Sept. 12. They are No. 35 in the most recent NCAA power rating.

San Jose held an early advantage in the first set, but hit just .139 and dug only 12 balls to fall back. That all changed in the second set, after it lost the first six points. The Spartans caught NMSU at 14, two points after a tremendous rally where they came up with eight digs.

"San Jose State played fantastic defense and won a majority of the long rallies," NMSU coach Mike Jordan said.

The set would be tied six more times and the Aggies ultimately scored seven of the last nine points, getting two of their 10 blocks in the process. NMSU scored seven of the last eight points in the final set.

"To stop the outside hitters, middles and right side is tough for us physically because they are so much bigger," said SJSU libero Kristal Tsukano, a Kamehameha graduate. "We did our best and came together as a team."

The Aggies were led by their quartet of all-WAC first-team players: Lindsey Yon (15) and Amber Simpson (14) combined for more than half NMSU's kills, while Krystal Torres (16) and Krista Altermatt (14) had the majority of the digs.

Tsukano gathered 13 digs for the Spartans, who were led offensively by Kelly Crow's 10 kills. Moanalua graduate Brianna Amian added five kills.