Eighth-ranked Hawaii found two cures for one missing national player of the year candidate Friday: Sophomore Emily Hartong and a shell-shocked Utah State team that looked nothing like the group that pulled the biggest upset in Western Athletic Conference volleyball history 11 months ago.

Hartong morphed into All-American Kanani Danielson, who was out with the flu, to lift the Rainbow Wahine to a 25-16, 25-21, 25-11 win over the team they lost to in last year’s WAC tournament final.

Hartong buried nearly half Hawaii’s kills (15 of 34) and added eight digs, four blocks and two aces. She also passed in a meaningful game for the first time in … forever.

"I didn’t pass in high school either …," last season’s WAC Freshman of the Year said. "I’ve always appreciated Kanani because her passing is so good, she always gets the middles involved. I really know what she goes through now."

While Danielson, a three-time All-American, watched in sweats, Hartong looked every bit the heir apparent in front of 5,505 at the Stan Sheriff Center.

She is no Kanani clone, particularly when it comes to ballhandling. But, like Danielson, she is a remarkable athlete who has played three positions in the past week.

"She’s had very few repetitions in practice at the left side," said UH coach Dave Shoji, who admitted Hartong practices serve-receive every day. "But she did play left all during the spring, so it wasn’t completely foreign to her.

"I thought Emily played extremely well in the backcourt. She’s so athletic she makes up for a lack of knowing where to be with quickness. She had eight digs, which is pretty good."

Utah State (9-13, 4-5 WAC) put up only a token challenge in the middle set. All-WAC hitter Josselyn White has been hurt a month and should be back next week, but the other 11 Aggies who played are fine, physically.

Emotionally they are clearly ailing, particularly after losing at San Jose State and Hawaii this week.

"We’ve been struggling for a little while, it’s frustrating," Aggies coach Grayson DuBose said. "We’re particularly struggling on the road and we’re not too good at home. We have to find a way to make it better."

DuBose grimaced and looked apologetic, then said, "Duh, huh?"

Utah State hit negative .045 for the match, with 23 hitting errors nullifying 19 kills and only two players in positive numbers. One was reigning WAC Player of the Week Liz McArthur, who finished with six kills and five errors.

When the Aggies weren’t spraying passes and spikes, they missed nine serves and were aced six times. Communication and confidence were sorely missing with one exception in the middle of the second set.

The Wahine (20-1, 8-0), who lead the NCAA in hitting at .315, won the set despite hitting negative .083 (six kills, nine errors) and giving up nearly all of a 19-11 advantage.

Utah State’s lone bright moment came after it took out its starting setter — nearly in tears — and went on a 9-2 run that cut its deficit to 21-20.

Hawaii was in meltdown mode, but senior Chanteal Satele chilled it out with one of her six kills. The teams traded points, then Jane Croson blasted two aces, with match point hitting the floor while Utah State’s passers looked at each other.

"Jane came in clutch with the two aces at the very end," Hartong said. "Which was awesome."

If Danielson is able to practice today she could play in Sunday’s 5 p.m. match against Idaho. Hawaii has won its past 15 and has the country’s longest active regular-season conference winning streak (49).

The Wahine start a three-match road trip at San Jose on Tuesday. The Spartans have defeated Utah State and Idaho the past three nights, taking out the Vandals in five Friday.