SEATTLE » As complicated as volleyball can become, it still comes down to the basics: serve and pass.

Tough serving takes an opponent out of system, sharp passing keeps a team in system.

That was No. 23 Hawaii’s game plan for No. 21 Duke on Friday night in an NCAA first-round match at the Alaska Airlines Arena. The Rainbow Wahine followed it to a "T" … or rather a "W," dispatching the Blue Devils in 94 minutes, 25-15, 25-19, 25-17.

Hawaii’s reward for one of its best defensive matches of the season? No. 3 Washington.

In the second round.

Again.

For the third time in five years, the Rainbow Wahine will face the host Huskies. Washington wasted little time in winning its 33rd straight home match, taking 73 minutes to eliminate overmatched New Hampshire 25-9, 25-6, 25-18.

"They are a great team, but what gives us hope is that they have lost twice in the last couple of weeks and they have some injuries," Rainbow Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. "That gives us hope.

"(Krista) Vansant is obviously the best player in the country, so we have to find a way to slow her down. I like our chances."

Nationally, few gave Hawaii a chance at beating Duke, which led the country in assists per set and was second in kills per set. But Hawaii’s pressure serving and imposing block — tied for fifth nationally — prevented Duke setter Kelsey Williams from getting her offense into any sort of rhythm. The Blue Devils ended their season hitting .050.

Meanwhile, the Rainbow Wahine’s passing allowed sophomore setter Tayler Higgins to run a diverse offense, with five attackers with at least five kills. Sophomore hitter Nikki Taylor and junior Olivia Magill led the way with 10 kills each, with Magill’s lone hitting error coming early in Set 1.

Junior hitter Tai Manu-Olevao finished with eight kills — her only error coming midway in Set 3 — and senior libero Sarah Mendoza had 17 of Hawaii’s 53 digs. The Wahine outblocked the Blue Devils 11 1/2 -4, led by Magill’s five.

The story of the match might have been junior Ginger Long, who replaced injured freshman starter Kalei Greeley at 18-11 in Set 1. Greeley rolled her right ankle diving for a ball near the left-side stanchion. It was the same ankle she injured in the first week of fall camp.

Long more than filled in for Greeley, finishing with six kills, eight digs and four blocks, including two solo.

"Our trainers thought (Greeley) could go back in, but Ginger was playing great so there was no need," Shoji said. "We hope (Kalei) can play tomorrow. We’ll know more tomorrow."

Hawaii has little time to savor its first win over a Top 25 team in six attempts.

Washington coach Jim McLaughlin was beginning his prep for Hawaii during the press conference, downloading video on his laptop during the post-match interview. Asked if it was too early to think about Hawaii, he pointed to his computer screen and said, "No. I’m downloading now.

"They’re good. Dave is great coach, Hawaii is well coached and it will be a challenge."

Hawaii will have a tall order trying to slow down the 6-foot-2 Vansant, the reigning national player of the year, the Pac-12 player of the year and academic player of the year. She led the Huskies with 16 kills with one error and added 11 digs against the Wildcats (20-12).

"This is the match we wanted," UH associate coach Scott Wong said. "We’re going to have to play our best match of the year. The pressure is on them, playing at home.

"We’ve seen a lot of video on them. They aren’t much different from the team we played (in 2012), but our team is very different. I looked at the roster and very few of our players were in that match."

Indeed, only senior middle Kalei Adolpho played all five sets in the match where Hawaii had a swing to end it in four but instead lost in five. Both Long and Manu-Olevao played, but sparingly.

Magill, who played against Washington four times during her two years at Arizona, was ready to see the Huskies again. She first played in the Alaska Airlines Arena when she was 13, during club season, and was looking forward to Saturday.

"I know they are really well coached," said Magill, who grew up in the Seattle area and was playing in front of dozens of family and friends. "They are a really good blocking team. But they also have a lot of pressure on them when hosting.

"We just need to be ready."

Washington is expected to be without junior setter Katy Beals, who was injured late in the Nov. 28 sweep of Washington State, a match where she passed the 2,000-assist career mark. The Huskies, who run a 6-2 offense with two setters, went with two redshirt freshmen Friday with normal starter Bailey Tanner and Jade Finau, the latter playing in just 15 sets coming into the match with New Hampshire.

Note

Hawaii was able to send part of its band and six cheerleaders to the subregional. Band director Gwen Nakamura said the band was able to borrow tubas and percussion instruments from Washington. The trip was made possible through a donation from Albert Kano, who covered the airfare and hotel expenses.

HAWAII DEF. DUKE 25-15, 25-19, 25-17

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces). Service Aces — Hawaii 3 (Taylor, Long, Mendoza). Duke 3 (Williams, Sklar, Karelov). Service errors — Hawaii 5 (Higgins 3, Taylor, Ponce). Duke 5 (Sklar 2, L. Williams, K. Williams, DiPasquale). Assists — Hawaii 42 (Higgins 36, Mendoza 3, Manu-Olevao, Adolpho, Long). Duke 28 (K. Williams 17, Deichmeister 8, Karelov 2, Tucker). T — 1:34. A — N/A. Referees — Patsy Malta, Jason Olson.