Photo Gallery: UH vs. Riverside volleyball

After opening its volleyball season with three matches in each of the first five weeks, maybe sixth-ranked Hawaii deserved a slam dunk.

The Rainbow Wahine won their 11th in a row Sunday, plowing past UC Riverside 25-7, 25-13, 25-15.

It was precisely as one-sided as it sounded, before a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,332. UH (13-1) came within three points of tying its record for fewest points allowed. Louisiana Tech scored 32 — twice — against the Wahine in 2011.

"I wanted them to be efficient," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "Didn’t want them making careless errors, and play at a high level."

He got that, from all 15 that played. The Wahine focused on creating their own energy, against a 1-12 team and in front of a small afternoon crowd.

They hit .436, with All-American Emily Hartong bouncing back from struggles early in the week in an exhibition against Toyota and the Big West opener against Cal State Fullerton.

She went for a match-high 12 kills and, more critically, rediscovered her passing mojo.

"I don’t think her hitting was affected by her passing," UH setter Mita Uiato said. "I’m more aware of my other hitters, trying to distribute it, so it’s not just on Hartong. Because she was struggling, I didn’t want to overwhelm her with all the sets I usually give her. Good thing Nikki (Taylor) was on Friday. Nikki gave Hartong a break."

Beyond everything else, first-year UCR coach Michelle Patton thought passing and serving were the best part of Hawaii’s game.

"They passed great; we didn’t really ace them," said the former Washington setter. "That was probably the most impressive thing. They served tough, too. And obviously they have a great senior setter."

Uiato moved the ball all over the court, again. Seven hitters got at least seven swings and everybody was effective. Taylor continued her tear, going 6-for-7 in two sets after devastating Fullerton on Friday with a career-high 20-kill performance.

"I thought everybody who got in the game played well," Shoji said. "It was nice."

It didn’t stop with passing and offense. Ali Longo (11) and Ashley Kastl (10) had double-digit digs. Kaela Goodman collected a career-high six blocks, playing parts of three sets, including three solo stuffs.

The Highlanders, picked to finish last in the Big West, ended their 13-match road odyssey to start the season with one win and a .126 hitting percentage. They got half that — .064 — Sunday.

"I feel like we didn’t really show up, just in spurts," Patton said. "It was tough because we played pretty scared. That’s a tough thing to coach."

The Highlanders’ lone offensive threat was Ashley Cox (nine kills) and, at 5 feet 6, she is pretty low to the ground. That speaks volumes for the depth of Sunday’s mismatch.

Hawaii was ahead 10-1 in Set 1 and Patton was out of timeouts before the Highlanders knew what hit them. They did, however, enjoy the introductions immensely — particularly their four freshman starters.

"Just the whole experience, for the first time … ," Patton said. "We’ve gone to a couple of preseason tournaments where there’s been a nice crowd, but obviously nothing compares to playing in this arena. It would have been hard for it not to affect them."

Hawaii used 10 players in the opening set — UCR tried 11 — and hit .600. Everybody had played just after the start of the final set and the team was still hitting .500-plus until some late errors.

Starting hitter Tai Manu-Olevao, who is Mormon, chose not to play the Sunday match.

Those deep numbers have become the norm. Shoji is averaging 14 players a match as the Wahine head into the second week of their conference season. They play at Long Beach State (Friday) and UC Irvine (Saturday). Hawaii’s next home match is Oct. 11 against UC Santa Barbara.

Hawaii is now 30-0 against Fullerton, 14-0 vs. Riverside and have the NCAA’s best current regular-season conference winning streak — 75 matches dating back to 2008.