LOS ANGELES — After a tentative start, third-ranked Hawai'i swept New Mexico, 25-22, 25-16, 25-21, tonight in the first round of the NCAA Volleyball Championship.

The match was played before about 500 at Southern California's Galen Center.
The Rainbow Wahine (29-2) will go for their 26th consecutive win, and a place in next week's Stanford regional, tomorrow (5 p.m. HST). They will play No. 15 USC, which swept Oklahoma, 25-21, 26-24, 25-20.
New Mexico, which was making its first NCAA appearance in 15 years, ended its season 20-10. It earned an at-large bid as the Mountain West's third-place team.
The Rainbow Wahine, seeded 12th in the national tournament, got 28 kills from sophomores Kanani Danielson (17) and Stephanie Ferrell (11). They out-hit the Lobos .340 to .155 and out-dug them 49-30. UH libero Liz Ka'aihue had 15 digs.
The opening set was never separated by more than three points and featured 10 ties. Ferrell's sixth kill put Hawai'i ahead, 23-22.
New Mexico , which hit .303, made just its third hitting error to give UH set point. After a timeout, Danielson ended it with her seventh kill.
She hit .400 in the set and Ferrell .625, lifting the Rainbows to a .432 team total.
Not much changed for Hawai'I offensively in the second set, but the Lobos suddenly could not put a ball down.
The Rainbow Wahine scored 12 of the final 16 points, with Danielson drilling seven more kills. Ferrell and middles Brittany Hewitt and Amber Kaufman combined for nine kills and .500 hitting.
New Mexico had nearly as many errors (6) as kills (8). Hewitt set the tone early, stuffing Lobos for four of Hawai'i's first five points, getting two assists from Ferrell.
The 'Bow outscored UNM 8-2 to pull ahead 16-10 in the third, scoring a point on an ace that dropped in the middle of the court while the Lobos stood motionless.
New Mexico rallied to tie it at 17, forcing Hawai'i to call its first two timeouts of the match. The Rainbows came back behind Danielson to finish it off.

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