This week will be much like last week for the fifth-ranked Hawaii volleyball team, but without airports, winter clothes, 5-hour bus rides, high altitude and low numbers in the seats.

The Rainbow Wahine play three Western Athletic Conference matches in four nights.

Hawaii continued its relentless run through the conference on the road last week, sweeping Idaho, Boise State and Utah State over the course of five nights to keep some remarkable streaks alive. The 19-1 Wahine have won their last 14 and their 34-match conference winning streak is best in the country. They have not lost a set since Sept. 11, winning their last 35.

"We don’t even talk about that. It’s not a focus," UH coach Dave Shoji said of the set streak. "We want to win matches. If that happens, great. It’s the match that’s important. That’s more of a credit to the players for keeping their focus and preparing mentally for every game they play."

The team might not be focused on the intricacies of its streaks, but others are. It has been clear on ESPNU’s coverage of three recent WAC matches involving UH that people see the Wahine in a different light. At last week’s Idaho match, broadcasters talked about the volleyball culture here and the absence of "attitude" from one of the country’s most storied programs.

"Most teams, no matter what sport, walk in the gym or on the field and — if they are really good — they have a swagger and an attitude like we’re good and we know it," said ESPNU analyst Kelli Tennant, who played on the USC team that was upset by UH in the 2006 Honolulu Regional. "Hawaii is always really good and they are never like that. They come in the same way they leave, with a smile."

Tennant is not completely objective. She remembers meeting UH senior Elizabeth Ka’aihue at a volleyball tournament when she was 10. Tennant was taken in by the Hawaii parents and hung out with Hawaii teams from then on.

"All the moms treated me like I was their own kid," Tennant recalled. "They fed me Spam and some random stuff."

The ESPNU matches Hawaii played this season all could have served as recruiting videos, from the Wahine’s dominance to the broadcasters’ compliments. Even Monday, when the UH players’ fatigue wreaked havoc on their timing, it was hard for them to be critical.

Tennant does say the WAC, and a preconference schedule that has faded as the season plays out, make it tough to tell just how good the Wahine are. She appreciates their finesse and high volleyball IQs, and especially their "scrappiness" — "they pick up balls no one else does" — but questions what is on the other side of the net.

"I’d like to put them in the Pac-10 and see what happens," she said. "I think they would end up like all the others, beating each other up night in and night out. But I definitely think they are a top-four team and if they don’t win a national championship this year, they will next year."

For now, Hawaii is barely halfway through the WAC season. It has again come down to the Wahine and New Mexico State, which has fallen to UH in the WAC tournament final the last four years.