Last night Louisiana Tech got swept up in the excitement of tomorrow's Western Athletic Conference showdown between 20th-ranked New Mexico State and 14th-ranked Hawai'i. Unfortunately for the Techsters, they also got swept, 30-16, 30-15, 30-21, by the Rainbow Wahine.

A Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 5,076 saw Hawai'i (20-5, 12-1 WAC) pull back into a first-place tie with the Aggies, who ended UH's NCAA-record 132-match winning streak against conference volleyball opponents a month ago in Las Cruces.

"That loss was probably the best thing that could have happened to our team," UH co-captain Cayley Thurlby said. "It humbled us a little bit and led us back to the fact that we've got to work for the record, work for the wins. We don't want to roll over teams in the WAC. We want to be challenged. So great, we're ready for a team that challenges us."

Shoji was happy to hear it.

"I agree with her," he said. "It's good for us to have to look inside a little more. If we would have won a close match we probably would have just shrugged it off and assumed we were going to win again."

The Rainbow Wahine's most compelling worry last night against the last-place Techsters (6-25, 0-13) was looking past them. Instead, Hawai'i warmed up against a team that has just one starter in the same position as last year and has been on the road 12 of the past 14 days.

"It's no secret we're oh and whatever in conference," LaTech coach Heather Mazeitis said. "It's difficult motivating the group when it's like that. It's not a difficult group to motivate. It's just trying to find different words to say the same thing. They're great kids. I threw them a few different words before Game 3 and they livened up a little, but Dave also subbed. What do you do?"

Hawai'i had control of this one from the moment Tech put the 12th serve into the net. Jamie Houston kept up her prolific average and recent accuracy with .455 hitting and 17 kills — twice as many as anyone else on the court. Houston, averaging 5 1/2 kills a game, has been nearly flawless since hitting for a negative percentage three matches ago.

"Jamie again made some good volleyball plays," Shoji said. "She kept her errors down. That's two straight nights she's done this now and hopefully it's a trend and she's learned from the Nevada match. I think she understands she can keep the ball in play and still hit for a high percentage."

Houston also had 11 digs for her 10th double-double. Juliana Sanders added nine kills on .333 hitting and had five of UH's 11 stuffs.

"There was lots of energy," Sanders said. "No matter what we did on the court, bad or good, we had just a real positive energy. There was a nice feel on the court between all the players. Even all the new ones coming in. The energy kept on flowing. We had smiles on the court. It was pretty awesome."

Louisiana Tech actually broke to a 7-4 advantage to start the match. UH gave the Techsters nearly half their points, shanking one serve and getting aced twice. Just when it looked like the 'Bows shaky ballhandling might make it interesting, they found their rhythm and got on a serious roll. From then on, the only questions were how long and how much would they would win by.

Hawai'i scored in bunches, stuffing LaTech into negative .047 hitting and letting Houston, Sanders and ultimately Sarah Mason (eight kills) loose.

The 'Bows had it going so good that on one play Amber Kaufman dug a ball and was immediately shoved across the court by Kanoe Kamana'o, who set Mason for a kill. On another, Kamana'o got a rare opportunity to swing, and nearly hit Shannon Phillips in the face with the ball.

Thurlby started on the right side in Game 2, then subbed in at setter in the final game. After a ragged start, the Rainbows pulled away. The game was notable for the first appearance of Kamehameha graduate Makana Recca, who transferred home this year after starting her collegiate career at the University of San Francisco.

Tomorrow's match starts at 5 p.m. It is the final regular-season home match of the year and Senior Night for Thurlby, Mason and Kamana'o.

"We kind of focused on the fact that it's going to be a pretty tough night for Senior Night," Thurlby said. "Maybe tonight was the night to think about the seniors and tomorrow we think about New Mexico."

NOTES

This is the 28th time in the 33-year history of the program that Hawai'i has won 20 matches. The 'Bows didn't even play 20 their first three seasons. The only other years they came up short were 1992 and '93. They have won at least 30 matches 16 times.

This is New Mexico State's fifth consecutive 20-win season. Coach Mike Jordan is the program's winningest coach, surpassing Tom Shoji, who led the Aggies from 1981 to '86. Shoji is the brother of Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji.

UH has won its last 89 conference home matches.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.