With a refreshingly different look on the other side of the volleyball net, eighth-ranked Hawaii ran through some very different looks of its own Monday.

Ultimately, it was a victorious look as the Rainbow Wahine ran their winning streak to 13 by defeating Notre Dame 25-18, 25-23, 25-17 in a rare midseason nonconference match.

But before UH put the hammer down in every set, it looked a little ugly … and tired … and in lineup limbo.

"It’s a matter of trying to develop Kalei Adolpho in the middle and (Emily) Hartong on the right," UH coach Dave Shoji said, "as opposed to going with a comfortable lineup with Chanteal (Satele) in there and Hartong in the middle.

"That lineup wins tonight, but we have to look to see what’s best for us in December. That’s the big dilemma right now, whether we play to crank out wins, which we know we can do, or do we try to develop players."

There were moments of brilliance and there were times when Hawaii (18-1) was simply bad.

It is in the midst of a stretch in which it plays nine matches in 18 days, with 14,000 miles of travel thrown in, and it looked fatigued from last week’s Western Athletic Conference adventures in Las Cruces, N.M., and Ruston, La.

The Wahine also looked energized at points, mostly behind All-American Kanani Danielson’s versatile talents (13 kills, 12 digs, two aces).

"She’s Kanani, she’s at her own level," Satele said. "She’s amazing."

The Fighting Irish (11-7) were just as fatigued after arriving within hours of the Wahine on Saturday night. They kept fighting back, against an opponent ranked seventh in Monday’s first NCAA RPI of the season, and a Stan Sheriff Center crowd of 4,260 that hunkered down to watch itself on "Hawaii Five-0" minutes after the match ended.

Notre Dame finished with 42 digs — UH had 52 — and held Hawaii to .224 hitting, 100 points below its average. It also outstuffed the Wahine 9-6, in large part because of spectacular block coverage.

"We blocked a lot of balls in Games 1 and 2 and really didn’t get the credit," Shoji said, "because they picked them off the ground."

Both teams started five freshmen and sophomores and a recently revamped lineup. Notre Dame utilized a 6-2 offense for a second match and the Wahine again went with their younger/larger look (Adolpho and Hartong). That would not last the night.

Satele came back late in the second and buried the first five sets she saw. She finished the match, with Hartong going back to the middle.

"It sucks. Nobody wants to be sitting on the side," said Satele, who also teamed with Brittany Hewitt for three straight stuffs in a six-point UH run that was the difference in the final set. "I just want to do everything I can when I do get my turn."

About the only difference in a quirky opening set was serving. Notre Dame missed six and was aced four times by the Wahine.

Fighting Irish coach Debbie Brown called it "uncharacteristic."

"That’s 10 points in one game and even the balls we were aced on … it wasn’t like we could say that was one we couldn’t handle," she said. "It was just really odd, a really bad start and we didn’t get ourselves out of the funk."

The match began with UH freshman libero Lizzie Blake collecting her first collegiate kill when a diving save of the first serve floated just over the net and went down untouched.

The set also featured Adolpho’s kick-save off her own block and four kills from Hartong — to go with six kills and seven errors from her teammates.

The second set might have been stranger than the first.

Hawaii dominated early, taking a 15-8 lead that Notre Dame erased in a flurry of off-speed shots and UH errors. It was tied at 18, 19 and 21, with Satele subbing in to score two late points.

Then UH freshman Jane Croson, an unlikely hero hitting negative .143 at that stage, took over. She buried the 22nd point and, after another kill from Blake while she was digging yet another dink, Croson crushed another. She added set point one serve later and finished with a match-high 15 digs.

The teams play again tonight. Hawaii returns to WAC matches Friday when it hosts Utah State (7 p.m.) and Sunday against Idaho (5 p.m.).

NO. 8 HAWAII DEF. NOTRE DAME 25-18, 25-23, 25-17