Beat up but not beaten, ninth-ranked Hawai'i was forced into a new volleyball look last night and found itself in time to overcome Fairfield in the opening round of the Waikiki Beach Marriott Challenge.

Senior Sarah Mason helped salvage a disturbing day for UH by setting a school record with nine aces. Hawai'i came into the match with nine aces for the season. Mason anchored a depleted Rainbow Wahine lineup with a performance — she also had 15 kills and 11 digs — that was an ace away from a rare triple-double.

The Rainbow Wahine (4-2) swept the Stags (3-4), 30-19, 33-31, 30-18, without All-American setter Kanoe Kamana'o and all-WAC hitter Tara Hittle, their best ballhandler. New UH policy does not allow the school to clarify why they did not play, but Hittle wore a walking cast on her right foot and has not been jumping in practice this week.

A spokesman could only say that neither was "cleared to play" and their problems were medical. Hittle and Kamana'o, a three-time All-American who had started every match of her UH career before last night, will be re-evaluated today and could play in tonight's match against Northwestern or tomorrow's with eighth-ranked Stanford, according to UH coach Dave Shoji.

He called their status "day to day." But after losses to top-10 teams last week and a ragged showing so far this season, medical problems big or small — and no one at UH is now able to deny these injuries might be serious — are only magnified. Neither were available for comment last night, according to UH.

A season-low crowd of 3,888 watched and wondered at Stan Sheriff Center. What they saw was not pretty for the most part, particularly in the second game. Fairfield (3-4), which doesn't have a player as tall as 6 feet, fought off four game points then and hit .400, tooling off the taller 'Bows' elbows, finding huge holes with offspeed hits and hiding from the UH diggers behind the blockers.

"That would have been amazing to win Game 2," said St. Joseph graduate Lindsey Lee, who lifted the Stags' offense with former high school teammate — along with Mason — Jazmin Pa'akaula. "We would have definitely been a lot closer in Game 3. Then they are down and we're up and volleyball is all about momentum."

The Rainbows insisted losing to such a tiny and tenacious team was "not an option," but admitted to basically starting over again with two crucial players missing and the team still looking for a familiarity that will allow the players not to have to "think so much."

Ultimately the Stags, who came all the way from Connecticut so their five Hawai'i players could have a homecoming game, were too small to take advantage of the gaps in the 'Bows' game. And there was Mason, who served six straight with a wicked line-drive "jump float" to break open the first game and seven in a row to do the same in Game 3.

There was also senior Cayley Thurlby, who has backed up Kamana'o three years and found out she was going to get her first setting start four hours before last night's match.

"I thought Cayley did a really nice job," Shoji said. "And if she gets another opportunity, she'll be better. She's athletic and she puts the ball in a nice, hittable spot."

Thurlby said she tried to keep it simple. The UH co-captain (with Kamana'o) was much quieter than usual on the court.

"I'm not going to lie," Thurlby said. "It's not the best job I could have done. I do think there are a lot of mental battles we have to get through as individuals and as a team. It's kind of like a roller coaster now for us but I do see signs of hope."

Nickie Thomas played for the first time since opening night as Shoji changed his lineup each game. She started for Kari Gregory in Game 2 and joined Juliana Sanders and Gregory in a three-middle look that seemed to grow on UH as Game 3 progressed.

NOTES

In the opening match, eighth-ranked Stanford (4-1) swept Northwestern, 30-27, 30-27, 30-17, behind 19 kills from Cynthia Barboza. The sophomore came into the match hitting .194 but had a .441 percentage last night and added 16 digs. The Wildcats (2-2) were led by Julie Purcell's 12 kills, but hit just .082 as a team and were out-blocked 15 1/2 to 8.

Amanda Simmons, a 6-foot-3 middle blocker from Illinois who has verbally committed to play for UH next year, will make her official visit to Hawai'i this weekend according to her mother, Evelyn. Simmons cannot sign a letter of intent until November.

UH senior Sarah Mason played with Fairfield's Lindsey Lee, Ashley Hanohano and Jazmin Pa'akaula at St. Joseph in Hilo. Rainbows Rayna Kitaguchi and Jayme Lee were teammates with Fairfield's Brandi Higa. UH walk-on Makana Recca and Stag senior Kiana Kauwe played together at Kamehameha, as did Hawai'i sophomore Nickie Thomas and Fairfield senior Natalie Barba at Westwood High School in Austin, Texas.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.