Life is not easy on the bubble, as the University of Hawai'i volleyball team learned after suffering another setback in its quest for a postseason berth.

Yesterday's 30-21, 30-25, 30-28 loss to second-ranked Cal State Northridge dropped the Warriors into ninth place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. Only the top eight teams qualify for the MPSF's postseason.

The Warriors are 10-13 overall and 7-11 in the MPSF after completing a 1-3 road trip.

By winning their 13th in a row, the Matadors are 19-4 and 15-3.

The path to the Warriors' ruin can be traced to the service line. While both teams missed several serves, the Matadors did a better job of transitioning into their offenses on playable serves.

"They caused a lot of problems with their serves," UH coach Mike Wilton said.

The Warriors' serves, meanwhile, did not result in even a murmur of disruption to the Matadors' offense.

"We couldn't handle them at all in the first two games," Wilton said. "We couldn't stop them with our defense. We couldn't serve good enough."

In Tuesday's five-game match between the teams, Matador outside hitter Eric Vance took 86 swings.

"If anybody had the right to be tired, it was No. 14," Wilton said of Vance. "It didn't look like he was bothered at all. He was even better in this match."

Vance put down a match-high 15 kills (against four errors). He slammed three aces, including two during a five-serve run in Game 2.

The Warriors passed better in Game 3, tying it at 28.

But Kamehameha Schools graduate Isaac Kneubhul powered a kill to give the Matadors a 29-28 lead.

Then Kevin McKnff rocketed an ace off UH libero Ric Cervantes for match point.

The Warriors were without their leading attacker, Jim Clar, and middle blocker Matt "Dragon" Rawson. Clar is suffering from a sore right (swinging) shoulder. Rawson has a torn right labrum.

Brennon Dyer, a second-year freshman, started his third consecutive match. Dyer finished with a team-high 12 kills.

Outside hitter Joshua Walker struggled in the first two games. But he was 6 for 6 in Game 3.

The Warriors are scheduled to depart Los Angeles today. Wilton said he will give them time off until Monday, when they will begin preparing for their final two regular-season home matches, against Brigham Young April 4 and 5.

"We're going to keep them out of the gym for four days," Wilton said. "Hopefully, the guys can get over colds. Hopefully, bodies will repair, and we'll get our legs back, and we'll get up a head of steam for the mighty Cougars."

Per BYU's request, UH's "Senior Night" will be on a Friday this year.

The Mormon church, which administers BYU, has a world-wide conference scheduled for April 6 and 7. The semi-annual event is held on the first weekend in April and October.