The University of Hawai'i volleyball team rebounded from Thursday's loss to sweep top-ranked Pepperdine last night in Malibu, Calif.

"We were en fuego," UH outside hitter Jose Jose Delgado said of the 30-26, 30-20, 30-21 Mountain Pacific Sports Federation victory in the Firestone Fieldhouse.

The outcome followed a familiar scenario. In each of the three two-match series this year, UH has lost the opener and dominated the rematch.

"Does it take shame to bring this out?" UH coach Mike Wilton said. "I hope not. I hope they realize there's homework involved, and experiencing a certain level of conscientiousness."

After a bumbling start — the first serve fell between Delgado and outside hitter Matt Carere — the sixth-ranked Warriors caught, well, fuego.

They served tough, amassing six aces and inducing erratic passes. Meanwhile, the Warriors had little trouble receiving serves, parlaying them into easy passes to Brian Beckwith. "The passes were so good, Beckwith had so many one-on-one opportunities on the outside," Delgado said.

Delgado hammered 16 kills, sizzled two aces and contributed to six blocks. He had three solo rejections.

Opposite attacker Lauri Hakala added 15 kills, Carere had 10 kills and eight digs, and middle Dio Dante produced six blocks.

"After that first timeout (early in Game 1), we got together, and they couldn't stop us," Delgado said. "Beckwith could do anything he wanted with the ball. The passing was nails. The middles were doing whatever they wanted. We had the game of our lives. We played awesome. It was a team effort."

The Waves, who lost at home for the second time in two years, never could get into system. Their best attacker, John Parfitt, managed seven kills and hit .130.

"We played in the moment all night long," Wilton said. "That was the key. We didn't play worrying about whether we were winning or losing. I'm pretty sure that's the way to do it."

UH improved to 5-4 and 3-3 in the MPSF. The Waves are 7-2 both overall and in the MPSF.