LAS CRUCES, N.M. — New Mexico State volleyball coach Mike Jordan said he went to pick up the dry cleaning the other day and all the guy at the counter could talk about was the Aggies' upset of the University of Hawai'i last Friday.

"The next night we went to an Italian restaurant and people kept coming by to shake hands and say, 'Congratulations,' " Jordan said.

Going on a week since the Aggies ended the Rainbow Wahine's NCAA-record 114-match conference winning streak here, handing UH its first loss in conference since Oct. 10, 1998, "People are still talking about it," Jordan said.

Not the least of them in the athletic department, where NMSU is hoping its football team draws some inspiration from the example when the Aggies play heavily favored UH Saturday at Aggie Stadium for homecoming.

"A lot of our players were there (at the UH match)," NMSU football coach Hal Mumme notes.

While the Warriors haven't come close to being the force in Western Athletic Conference football that the Rainbow Wahine are in volleyball, they are still 18-point favorites on the Las Vegas betting line, and Mumme wouldn't mind if some of the volleyball magic rubbed off.

For sure the 2-4 (0-2 WAC) football Aggies could use some. In going on two years of WAC membership, rebuilding NMSU has yet to win a conference game. Overall, it has lost 17 consecutive games against Division I-A opposition over three seasons. Nothing on the remaining schedule would herald a breakthrough like a win over UH. So, the football team will take inspiration where it can find it.

The Aggies have had a thriving volleyball program but, like Nevada, Fresno State and others in the WAC over the past decade, have been unable to take that next step. "We felt like we had a Top 25 team," Jordan said, "but we had to get others to believe it, too."

The 20-win seasons and NCAA Tournament appearances have been significant milestones for the Aggies as they have, on occasion been for Nevada and Fresno State. But nothing stamps validation on a program in the WAC like a win over UH.

A 22-1 record (5-1 in the WAC) is impressive but what everybody here talks about is the victory over UH. So, after some near-misses in Jordan's nine years at NMSU, last week's five-game victory was cause for celebration here.

"People who haven't been to a volleyball match now tell me they'll be coming out," Jordan said. "You can definitely feel the buzz."

The kind the football team would like to capture for itself. In that, inspiration is just a dig, set and spike away.

Reach Ferd Lewis at flewis@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8044.