A chilly draft in the Stan Sheriff Center could not cool down the suddenly efficient University of Hawai'i volleyball team.

Spurred by the corner attackers — Lauri Hakala and Matt Vanzant on the left side; Jim Clar on the right — the Warriors defeated Pacific, 31-29, 30-22, 28-30, 30-24.

By winning the two-match series, the Warriors improved to 2-2. The Tigers fell to 2-5 overall and 1-3 in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation.

"This lineup is really starting to play well together," said Clar, who hammered 17 kills and hit .342.

The thing is, the Warriors' starting rotation was assembled on Wednesday. Illnesses and injuries forced several experiments.

"It's not like we tried to jumble things up," UH coach Mike Wilton said. "If they didn't get so darn sick, we could have done it a lot sooner."

In practices leading to last week's two road losses against top-ranked UC Irvine, the coaches tinkered with moves that created the current lineup. Hakala, an All-America opposite attacker, moved to left-side hitter, where he assumed the role of primary passer. Clar, who comes from the unheralded volleyball community of Rochester, N.Y., became the opposite attacker. Vanzant, a second-year freshman from Arizona, earned one of the two starting left-side jobs.

Which one? "I'm not sure," Vanzant said, smiling. "I'm just out there. I do what they tell me to do."

None of the three is taller than 6 feet 2, giving the Warriors the shortest outside attackers in the MPSF.

"We make up for it with other skills," Hakala said.

Vanzant has become an accurate passer, effective server and skilled third-option hitter. Aligned in the right corner, Vanzant served 15 UH points last night. His most effective serve, which resulted in one ace and an over-pass, was aimed down the line.

"That's a hard place to serve," Wilton said. "It's pretty challenging. But he works hard at it."

Vanzant, who had 12 kills and nine digs, said: "All through practice, I line up on the right side (for serves). A lot of times in practice, I'll cut one way out. When I keep my serves in, it gives us a chance. I'm working on that."

Clar is finding success on powerful swings off quick sets in the front row or blasting shots from the back right.

Hakala is making the difficult adjustment to the left side. He finished with a match-high 18 kills.

"I think I should play more of a passing role on this team," Hakala said. "That's what I'll need to become a better left-side hitter. It's an adjustment to see myself dig the ball and see somebody else put the ball away. But then again, that's the way it is in life and as a player. You've got to learn new skills. It's a great challenge for me."

But Hakala is a fast learner. He had been bothered by flu-like symptoms for two weeks, and didn't feel refreshed until Wednesday — the first day he practiced in the new lineup, which also featured Eric Kalima at libero.

"The lineup has been together for three days," Hakala said. "I've practiced with these guys once, but already we're doing a lot of good things. There are going to be a lot of ups and downs. But if we stick together, we've got a chance."

That showed in the first two games, when the Warriors' well-placed serves prevented the Tigers from getting into system. It also allowed the Warriors to construct their block.

Dio Dante contributed to nine of the Warriors' 16 blocks, and freshman Matt "Dragon" Rawson, who can touch 11 feet 6, had three solo blocks.

"Hard work pays off," Rawson said. "I'm going straight over, putting a wall up, and making them hit around it and letting our defense play."

The Tigers shuffled their rotation in Game 3, moving Maor Nutkevitch from outside hitter to libero, and summoning Andreas Baboulidis. Baboulidis was difficult to stop on angle shots, but he sabotaged his play with four errors in 10 serves.

Still, Baboulidis energized the Tigers. "They really made some plays in that game," Wilton said. "They were pulling plays out of their okole almost."

But the Warriors, who committed nine service errors in Game 3, regrouped after that.

"It's a performance issue at that point," Pacific coach Joe Wortmann said. "They out-performed us. We were confident we could win, but we didn't get the performance we needed to do that."

Reach Stephen Tsai at stsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.