After scaring itself early, 16th-ranked Hawai'i broke out of its self-inflicted funk and rolled over Eastern Washington, 31-29, 30-15, 30-20, on the opening night of the 13th annual Waikiki Beach Marriott Volleyball Challenge.

Last night's matches were watched by 3,354 at Stan Sheriff Center, the smallest crowd of the year.

In the opener, Wichita State (5-2) warmed up for tonight's match with Hawai'i by sweeping 19th-ranked Santa Clara, 30-26, 30-23, 30-19. Anna Cmaylo, Santa Clara's All-America middle, still has not played this season. She is recovering from offseason shoulder surgery.

Hawai'i (4-3) came out looking as if it wanted to atone for Monday's meltdown against fifth-ranked UCLA. The 'Bows broke to a 13-6 lead against an EWU team that lost coach Wade Benson July 2 and has just one returning starter. Then they reverted to their fractured form behind the second frightening performance of the year by All-American Jamie Houston.

She was hardly alone in Game 1. The Rainbow Wahine passed so poorly Houston rarely saw a decent set. UH coach Dave Shoji replaced her with freshman Stephanie Ferrell — in her college debut — after Houston's eighth hitting error.

At that point, EWU was on a 19-9 run and led 25-22.

"We'd pass poor, then get a really difficult set to hit and we'd hit it out," Shoji said. "So we're having three bad touches out of three."

The scrappy Eagles (1-6) would get to game point first (29-27), on Hayley Hills' fourth kill. But Juliana Sanders erased that and Aneli Cubi-Otineru got the next to tie it at 29. A Sanders' stuff — the 'Bows had six in the game — and her fourth kill finally silenced EWU, for the rest of the night it turned out.

"It would have been very, very sweet for us (to win Game 1) because we're an incredibly young team," EWU coach Irene Matlock said. "Part of being young is we don't know how to finish a game, let alone finish a match. But we are getting better."

Hawai'i started fast again in Game 2 — with Houston back — but this time finished faster. It stretched a five-point advantage to 21-8 with Stephanie Brandt serving seven straight. By then, the Eagles were in disarray. They hit .029 for the game with the Rainbows collecting five more blocks and hitting .364.

The Rainbows brought in freshman Amanda Simmons and sophomore Amber Kaufman to play middle in Game 3. They combined to go 7-for-7 and help Hawai'i break away after a 9-all start. By the end, Shoji had used 17 players.

Tara Hittle started on the right side for the first time since 2004, when she was Western Athletic Conference Freshman of the Year, and had seven kills on .500 hitting — .400 points over her average. Otineru had a match-high 11 kills on the left.

"We need Hittle's ball control," Shoji said. "She's been struggling on the left. She's hit 11 percent. We think Aneli can do more with some of the sets off the net, put the ball in a better position. We thought that might be a solution to keep Hittle in the lineup. She was our best passer tonight and she's our best defender. We need her in there."

Sophomore defensive specialist Jayme Lee's offense also picked up. Lee had one kill her entire career, until she collected two last night. She described the attitude at the lone practice following the UCLA loss as "more heartfelt" than before. Simmons described it as "going back to square one, again."

"We decided to rebuild and fight through it," the freshman said. "(Wednesday) everyone was just fighting a lot harder. The positions aren't finalized. You don't know where you're going in, when you're going to go in. The opportunity is out there."

NOTES

Hawai'i coach Dave Shoji said freshman Stephanie Ferrell, who made a brief collegiate debut last night, will not redshirt this season.

Kristen Ponce, a 2004 Kamehameha Schools graduate, is one of two seniors on the Eastern Washington roster. She had two digs last night.

Santa Clara plays Eastern Washington tonight at 5, with Wichita State and Hawai'i to follow at approximately 7. The 'Bows and Broncos play the late match tomorrow, following a 5 p.m. match between the Shockers and Eagles.

Reach Ann Miller at amiller@honoluluadvertiser.com.