In an impressive burst of relentlessness, third-ranked Hawai'i pummeled Louisiana Tech, 25-12, 25-8, 25-17, last night in a Western Athletic Conference volleyball match.

After Saturday's grand celebration for UH coach Dave Shoji's 1,000th victory, even the Rainbow Wahine staff predicted a letdown. It was pleasantly surprised in a match originally scheduled for last Wednesday, but postponed when bad weather kept LaTech in Shreveport.

"The coaches expected us to be pretty flat," said UH senior Stephanie Brandt. "But we were still happy from Saturday. It just carried over."

Added senior Amber Kaufman: "They always tell us just play our game, it doesn't matter who we are playing. It's nice to do that."

Before a season-low Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 3,841, the Rainbow Wahine (17-2, 8-0 WAC) won their 13th straight in their most one-sided match of the year. During the streak, Hawai'i has dropped just two sets.

Louisiana Tech (12-12, 2-6) did not come close to changing that.

After two sets, Rainbows Kaufman, Aneli Cubi-Otineru and Kanani Danielson all had eight kills — Kaufman needing just eight swings. Danielson, who had a match-high 11 kills and 10 digs, was the only UH starter who played the entire match.

When Jayme Lee came in with UH up 14-6 in Set 2, she was the 12th Rainbow Wahine to play. Ultimately 13 got in, with reserve Alexis Forsythe dropping in on six of Hawai'i's eight stuffs.

"It was a little more relaxed atmosphere tonight," Shoji said, "and we got just about everybody in too, so that was good."

His team was good. Louisiana Tech never quit, but could never keep up. In the opening set, Cubi-Otineru went 6 for 9 and hit .667, while the Techsters were 6 for 32 and hit .031.

It would have been worse. Bulgarian sophomore Nataliya Panova was 5 for 8 in the opening set, while the rest of the Techsters combined for one kill and negative .125 hitting.

Panova had just one more kill the rest of the way as the 'Bows never had a dropoff. They scored the final eight points of the second set, with Dani Mafua serving and LaTech smothered into negative-.143 hitting.

After LaTech led early in Set 3, the UH reserves took over behind Forsyth and Catherine Fowler. Hawai'i held the Techsters to negative-.032 hitting for the night.

"One thing I will say about this Hawai'i team is they seem more balanced," said LaTech coach Matt Sonnichsen. "And they seem more mature. I don't mean to say they were immature last year, but they are more developed. Sophomores became juniors, juniors became seniors, their offense is more well-rounded.

"As you get older you get better."

The Rainbows play a non-conference match against Brigham Young-Hawai'i Friday at 7 p.m. That will be preceeded by the alumnae exhibition, which starts at 5 p.m., and followed by another celebration in honor of Shoji's 1,000th victory.

There will be a parade of alumnae, videos, speeches and performances by former Rainbow Wahine Raeceen Woolford — now Miss Hawai'i — and Hedder Ilustre.

NOTES

The 'Bows are halfway through the WAC regular season. They play six of their final eight on the road, starting with a trip to Fresno State (Oct. 29), Nevada (Oct. 31) and San Jose State (Nov. 2). They come home to the final homestand of the year, Nov. 6 and 8 (Senior Night).

The official crowd count (tickets sold) of 9,293 Saturday was the second-largest of the season nationally. It also put the Rainbows over 100,000 for the 15th consecutive year — every year since they moved into the Stan Sheriff Center full time in 1995. Since that year, the lowest total was 104,222, in 2001.

Chaminade volleyball will present "Dig for a Cure," a Breast Cancer Awareness Night, at its match Friday against Dixie State (7 p.m. at McCabe Gym). Dig for a Cure T-shirts will be on sale for $12, with proceeds donated to the Susan G Komen fund.