Sixth-ranked Hawaii plays Saint Mary’s tonight for the championship of the 16th annual Verizon Wireless Rainbow Wahine Volleyball Challenge.

So far it has been very little challenge for the Wahine.

They ran their record to 7-1 last night with a speedy 25-17, 25-13, 25-17 victory over UC Irvine, before a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,111 (5,359 tickets issued).

The Anteaters (2-5), who have lost their last four, lasted just 84 minutes. That was 11 more than San Diego State on Thursday, but UH might have been more efficient the second time around.

This sweep came against an Irvine team that lost only its setter from last year, when it soared into the rankings and barely missed an NCAA Tournament berth.

Hawaii hammered out a .400 hitting percentage with its starters the first two sets and showed the balance crucial to its success, which was lacking last week.

While junior All-American Kanani Danielson was all-world yet again (15 kills, 13 digs), Chanteal Satele and Michelle Waber were not far behind. The three outside hitters combined for nearly 75 percent of the kills, with Waber and Satele out most of the final set. All had attacking percentages of .389 or better.

The balance bodes well for Hawaii. Waber says her focus is on trusting herself and fixing her errors as soon as she sees them.

"She is just aggressive," UH setter Dani Mafua says of her freshman teammate. "You don’t see any doubt in her eyes. … She played really well, kinda steadying out. It’s good."

Satele, who transferred home in January after playing for Saint Mary’s the past two years, also has taken on the Challenge since Sunday’s loss to USC.

"She’s more sure of herself, you definitely see it on the court," Mafua said. "Last night and tonight she played with more fire in her eyes. It’s fun to set her."

UH coach Dave Shoji took his only timeout after Irvine scored three straight to close to 12-10 in the opening set. His team took his call for efficiency to heart and was not threatened again.

"Sometimes when you start fast you might think it will be easy the rest of the way," Shoji said. "I didn’t want them to think that."

Hawaii did not have a hitting error until its 27th swing. It had only one in the first set and seven more the rest of the night.

To be fair, the Anteaters are in some transition. Senior all-conference hitter Juliane Piggott was out until last week with back issues and Irvine went from two setters — the offensive look Saint Mary’s uses — to one this week.

It got ragged. Kari Pestolesi, the other senior all-conference hitter, again anchored the offense but had only eight kills and hit .125. Her team hit .103.

Punahou graduate Larissa Nordyke, an all-tournament selection last week at Stanford, was frustrated offensively a second straight night.

"When we get in a rhythm we can do some pretty nice things. It’s fun to watch us," said UCI coach Paula Weishoff, who last played here with the national team 15 years ago. "I love coaching this team and they haven’t given up even though we’ve struggled a bit with losses. We compete, but then we just go error, error, error."

Saint Mary’s, ranked 25th in the preseason, will not give Hawaii those opportunities.

"They present some different problems," Shoji said. "The athletes are about the same as we’ve seen the last two nights, but their organization is way different. They are very, very disciplined."

NOTE

Hawaii is 45-2 in the Challenge and has won 13 of the first 15. USC captured the 2001 tournament and Stanford won it in 2006.

Saint Mary’s 3, San Diego State 0

Megan York put down 13 kills with no errors and Kelly Huston added five service aces and 17 digs to lead the Gaels over the Aztecs 25-19, 25-15, 25-17 in 70 minutes.

Kapua Kamana’o (‘Iolani ’07) had 20 assists for Saint Mary’s (7-2).

Kyley Sexton led SDSU (5-3) with 10 kills.

Huston’s service run in Set 1 swung the momentum over to the Gaels. Saint Mary’s trailed 18-16 when Huston went back to serve; she had three aces in a 7-0 run that put the Gaels ahead for good.