OMAHA, Neb. — For the Rainbow Wahine, one good thing came out of the second match of the volleyball season. Nobody else got hurt.

There was little other consolation for fourth-ranked Hawai'i in the consolation match of the AVCA/ NACWAA College Classic yesterday. The 'Bows were bashed a second straight night as fifth-ranked Penn State rolled to a 30-27, 30-26, 30-18 win before about 10,000 at Qwest Center.

In the championship, top-ranked Nebraska swept third-ranked Stanford, 30-23, 31-29, 33-31.

The loss to the Nittany Lions (1-1) looked nothing like Friday's free-fall against the huge 'Huskers, with the exception of a throwaway third game — a character flaw that might be the least of Hawai'i's concerns at this point.

The Rainbow Wahine could have won the first game last night and should have won the second. The 'Bows have now lost three straight after opening last season by winning their first 30.

Maybe they were saving it for Friday's rematch in the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Classic, though that seems unlikely based on the reaction of dejected coaches and players last night. Dave Shoji admitted his team was "out-coached and out-hustled." Junior captains Cayley Thurlby and Kanoe Kamana'o were similarly blunt.

"Obviously we were unprepared in a lot of areas," said Thurlby, a backup setter forced to pass because two outside hitters (Tara Hittle and Sarah Mason) have gone down with injuries. "We were exposed. We knew it was a tough tournament and, like everyone said at the beginning of the season, 'You were a surprise last year, but blah, blah, blah.' We've got to get tough and grow up.

"We just hope that everybody on the team is going to take that step and make sacrifices to do the things we need to be a better team."

Where to start might be the most critical question. Shoji and Kamana'o went down a list of where the 'Bows are lacking and it was all-inclusive. Aside from senior middle Victoria Prince's offense — she led the team in kills each night and hit .488 — little has gone right.

Last night's Rainbow highlight reel consisted of an off play deep in the third game. UH, stuck in a bad rotation with Kamana'o in the front row, fell behind 23-13 after losing five straight points. Shoji let Thurlby set and she gave the ball to Kamana'o who was, of course, wide open.

Kamana'o, maybe the country's finest setter, smashed the ball to the ground and grinned. "When you're down two games and into the third set, Dave is going to try anything to get that sideout," she said, while Shoji denied he called the set.

But even Shoji's imagination couldn't rescue opening weekend. PSU coach Russ Rose, who has known Shoji nearly 30 years, doesn't worry about his friend.

"Dave has been coaching 30 years so he's probably lost two matches in a row and he'll probably find a way to right the ship," Rose said. "When you come to an event like this with the teams who are here you pretty much know when you accept that you could go 0-2.

"Last year, the team with the most losses (Stanford) won the national championship so I don't think anyone can put too much stock in it. I think Hawai'i will probably have the season that their fans are accustomed to. Especially when their two outside hitters get back. Those two are huge losses for them."

He was more upbeat than the Rainbows. Prince told the team after the match that they were "settling" for an unacceptable level of play. Shoji talked about being "exposed" in every area and missing Mason's and Hittle's ballhandling and blocking much more than their offense.

The captains promised to "not shut up" this week at practice, with Thurlby deeply disappointed that her team had "fallen apart" and Kamana'o most disturbed about "not winning a single game."

Shoji started freshman Jamie Houston on the right and moved Susie Boogaard into the Mason/Hittle left-side position, bringing last year's look back with one exception. Houston struggled, but was hardly the reason for the loss.

The first game was tied 19 times before Penn State won the last three points. Hawai'i hit .298, with the Lions' only blocks coming on the final two points.

The 'Bows who led for just one point Friday, looked ready to win their first game of 2005 in the second. They were up as much as 19-12. PSU rallied by scoring bunches of points as UH's hitting and blocking broke down.

The 'Bows led the third game 6-4 before allowing seven straight points. Shoji played all his freshmen — Houston, Nickie Thomas and Jessica Keefe — extensively at the end as the prestigious tournament suddenly turned into an evaluation.

"It boils down to things we accept in practice," Thurlby said. "Little things we accept every day as players and say 'Oh, that won't happen in a game.' Those kinds of things smacked us in the face. There were a lot of ballhandling errors and a lot of instances where two players were going for a ball and not talking. Those things came back to haunt us."

For how long? UH faces two top-10 teams again this week in seventh-ranked Southern California and PSU. Was last year's long, scintillating streak a mirage built on a weaker schedule?

"It could be we over-achieved last year, but I still think we're one of the teams that can compete for the national championship," Shoji said. "We'll find out this coming weekend."

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.