Fourth-ranked Hawai'i ripped to a 6-1 lead then held on behind All-America goalie Meike De Nooy to defeat Cal, 10-8, yesterday in the second round of the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation Women's Water Polo Championship at Irvine, Calif.

The victory all but assures the Rainbow Wahine their second straight appearance at the NCAA Nationals, May 12 to 14 at Davis, Calif. The eight-team tournament is made up of the five conference champions and three at-large picks.

The only teams ranked ahead of the 'Bows are with them in the MPSF semifinals this weekend. Hawai'i (16-9) has won 15 of its last 20 going into today's semifinal against top-ranked Southern Cal (25-0). Second-ranked UCLA (25-3) plays third-ranked Stanford (20-4) in the other semi.

Hawai'i's big lead evaporated yesterday as its penalties built up. Coach Michel Roy had to pull All-America sophomore Iefke Van Belkum when she picked up her second major foul.

"Then we got two girls with three fouls — Kristy Bagnall and Amy Logan," Roy said. "After that, the bench did the job."

After falling behind by five with 5:24 left in the first half, Cal (16-9) scored three unanswered goals, but could never cut its deficit below two.

"Cal got within two, but we were still pretty confident," freshman Kelly Mason said. "Meike saved quite a few goals at the end. She did quite well for us."

De Nooy had eight saves. Offensively, UH scored on five of seven power-play opportunities. Van Belkum and Mason had three goals apiece. Bagnall added two goals and Anna Sieprath and Lisa van Raalte one each.

Hawai'i finished fourth in the NCAA last year, its best national finish since its inaugural season of 1998.