It has been nearly 20 years and a devastating run through the Western Athletic Conference since Hawaii lost a Big West volleyball match. It came Nov. 10, 1994, and UC Santa Barbara was the perpetrator.

Friday, the fifth-ranked Rainbow Wahine host the Gauchos, with Cal Poly coming in Saturday. Those teams are tied for third in the Big West, at 2-1.

There will be no Kathy Gregory on the sideline, for the first time in the UCSB series’ history, which goes back to Hawaii’s inaugural season (1974). Gregory retired in January, after 38 seasons, 882 wins (fifth in D-I history) and seven Big West Coach of the Year honors. She served on the search committee that hired her replacement (Nicole Lantagne Welch) and is now assisting UCSB with its evaluation of adding sand volleyball.

"It will be strange not to see her stalking and walking back and forth, encouraging her team," said UH coach Dave Shoji, who had coached against Gregory since 1975. "It will be a different Santa Barbara team."

The Gauchos (7-8) let three match points get away against Arizona and are 2-3 in five-setters, including a win over New Mexico State. Punahou graduate Ali Santi is a backup setter and senior Katey Thompson is second to Hawaii’s Emily Hartong in Big West kills (3.51) and points (4.14).

UCSB took a set off top-ranked USC — one of three losses to top-10 opponents — and fell in five to Long Beach State to open the Big West season. They have beaten UC Irvine and Cal Poly since.

That was the Mustangs’ (8-8) only loss in their past five matches. They already have twice as many wins as last year and are led by senior Chelsea Hardin, an ‘Iolani graduate, who is averaging a team-high 3.15 kills and hitting .312 — for a team with a percentage of .215. Senior Jennifer Keddy, the 2011 Big West Player of the Year, is back after missing last season with injuries.

The Wahine (15-1) bring a 13-match winning streak into the weekend and have the NCAA’s longest active regular-season conference streak (77). They are eighth in the country in hitting (.311) and ninth in kills (14.70), which is exactly where Hartong stands individually at 4.62 kills per set.

Libero Ali Longo, who served a school-record 20 straight points on the last homestand, kept it going from behind the line on the road. She scored nine points at UC Irvine and 15 at Long Beach State.

"Our team is pretty established," Shoji said. "Our starting group is established now. We’re moving Nikki (Taylor) and Tai (Manu-Olevao) around a little — Tai some on the right and Nikki some on the left — but besides that we’re pretty simple. I don’t want to complicate things and I don’t think we need any major changes. We’re pretty good."

This week’s first NCAA RPI thought so, putting Hawaii third after defending NCAA champion Texas — a team UH beat to open the season — and USC. Santa Barbara is 102nd and Cal Poly 20 spots behind that.

If Hawaii can win out over the Big West season, Shoji is fairly confident it could remain in the top 16 and have the opportunity to host an NCAA subregional. But that isn’t what his team is thinking about this weekend.

"All the other teams in the top 16 are going to lose a couple more in conference," Shoji said. "I don’t really think we have to run the table. One loss doesn’t hurt your winning percentage a whole lot, but we want to win one at a time, we’re not talking about running the table. We’ve got to worry about Friday night and Saturday night."