Catching a second wind in the second set, third-ranked Hawai'i ran its winning streak to 18 last night.

The Rainbow Wahine went from sluggish to spectacular in the time it takes to stuff a volleyball, blowing by Fresno State 25-19, 25-11, 25-13.

The Western Athletic Conference match took 78 minutes, before 5,227 at Stan Sheriff Center. The suspense lasted all of 20 minutes.

In the first set, the 'Bows (22-2, 12-0 WAC) worked hard to fend off Fresno (12-12, 5-7), which took a set off UH last week. They needed six kills from Kanani Danielson, who finished with a match-high 15, and five missed serves from FSU.

But nine minutes after the second set started, FSU coach Lauren Netherby-Sewell had used her last timeout. Her team was down 14-6 and there was no coming back against a Hawai'i team suddenly on a mission.

The 'Bows traced their second-set surge in part to losing that set last week — "We got reminded endlessly by our coaches," Danielson said — along with better timing on the middle attack and, of all things, slowing their blockers.

"It took us awhile to get in the flow and get in a rhythm with the blocking," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "They set the ball so high sometimes we're early. Once we slowed it down a little bit it got better."

Hawai'i hit .500 in the second set and held FSU to negative .030. UH middles Amber Kaufman (5 kills) and Brittany Hewitt (4) were a combined 9 for 12. Hewitt also dropped in on three of the 'Bows' four blocks.

The Bulldogs hit negative (7 kills, 8 errors) for the set and didn't get much better in the third, with Danielson going for another five kills.

In the past month, the sophomore All-American is averaging nearly 4 1/2 kills and hitting .353. She was awfully good early, but clearly Danielson has come on lately. Senior teammate Kaufman can't help but grin while she watches.

"In double days (August) she kills it and then she gets hurt," Kaufman said. "If you get hurt, it's really hard to get back in the swing of things. I think it's finally coming around. She's finally gotten all the reps and told herself she could do it. And it's great, really exciting."

Added Danielson: "I've just got to keep working on things. You go through valleys now and then. It's really hard to work through that storm, to bounce back after you get hurt, but my teammates did a wonderful job encouraging me and all I can do is just keep trying and work to get my timing right. My goal is to just be consistent these days."

She has been consistently excellent lately. Fresno State, which dropped into a fourth-place tie with Boise State, cannot say the same. It is fighting to finish in the top six and qualify for the new-and-reduced WAC Tournament, which begins Nov. 23.

"With where we're at with being able to execute skills, it's easy to kind of fall apart," said Netherby-Sewell. "Especially against a good team."

The Bulldogs were out-hit .330 to .043 and out-dug 44-26. They missed 11 serves. The Rainbows just kept rolling. Netherby-Sewell, who left her most prolific hitter (Baylee Platt) home to "learn lessons," was disappointed.

"They performed better because we didn't put any pressure on them," she said. "They were able to run the floor and pass well and certainly out-dug us by many. If their passing is on, our defense isn't strong enough to keep up with them. That's the absolute key to being able to compete with them. At home we served very tough and got them off-balance and uncomfortable. Tonight we couldn't even serve in.

"We gave them an extraordinary number of points in this match that they didn't earn. They didn't have to do much to beat us tonight."

Hawai'i's final home match is tomorrow, at 5 p.m., against Utah State. It will be Senior Night. The Rainbows can clinch at least a tie for the regular-season title with a win.

"We still have goals set for ourselves, to get better every match," Shoji said. "It's going to be very emotional with the five seniors on Senior Night, but we really have to focus and play well. Sometimes that's hard to do on this last night."

Hawai'i ends the regular season on the road at Boise State (Thursday), Idaho (Nov. 14) and Utah State (Nov. 16).

NOTES

UH coach Dave Shoji will sign autographs after tomorrow's match. He will be on the concourse level near the Rainbowtique Store at Gate B. Limited edition 1,000th Win volleyballs will sell for $20 (regularly $35) at the Stan Sheriff Center Rainbowtique that night only. A portion of the proceeds benefits the Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Foundation.

Last year's Rainbow Wahine team, minus Jessica Keefe and Nickie Thomas, who are on the Mainland, received bracelets last night for winning the 2008 WAC Championship.