STOCKTON, Calif. » If all Dave Shoji’s previous volleyball victories were like Friday’s, no way he would still be around searching for No. 1,100 tonight.

Seventh-ranked Hawaii wasted a rare hot start, but rediscovered its mojo in the final two sets of a 25-16, 25-27, 22-25, 25-16, 15-7 Big West win over Pacific at the Spanos Center.

It was the Rainbow Wahine’s 70th consecutive regular-season conference win and it came at the site of their first NCAA title.

UH (23-2 overall, 15-0 BWC) clinched the Big West title and a place in the postseason two weeks ago. It is now playing for a top-16 seed, which is the only number Shoji, in his 38th season as coach, is thinking about tonight at UC Davis.

"I couldn’t care less about the (1,100-win) number," Shoji said. "I just want to win for our sake, to protect our RPI (19) and protect our possible seed. That’s our only motivation. That’s the only thing on my mind now."

Pacific (20-9, 8-8) came close to ending those hopes Friday, again. One of six teams with a shot at second place going into this week, it is now 9-5 when it goes five sets, which has happened in both UH matches.

"I kept thinking tonight may be the night we end that streak," Shoji admitted. "When you’re down 2-1 it’s not the most positive feeling. But the kids hung in there and worked hard and turned things around. They were playing pretty well at the end."

It was the fifth five-set victory for Hawaii in its return to the Big West, where, as Shoji said, "there are no walkovers."

The Tigers tried a "brand-new alignment" in the opening set and went down to a barrage of Emily Hartong and Jane Croson kills. They seized control mid-match. The only time Hawaii was close in Sets 2 and 3 was at the end, when it fought off seven set points. Its extremely unbalanced offense had 18 hitting errors in those sets.

Hartong, who had a match-high 25 kills on .346 hitting, and Croson (18) would pound UOP again late. The Tigers also had trouble with some tough serving by UH — Mita Uiato pitched four aces and Croson and Hartong each had three — and a revived block.

"I think it was mind over matter," said UH middle blocker Jade Vorster, who finished with 13 kills and five stuffs. "We knew what to do, and (assistant coach) Scott (Wong) talked to us a lot."

Hawaii ended an impressive fourth set with stuffs for two of its final four points — after a 42-serve blocking drought that included long periods of UOP hitters going untouched.

UOP was millimeters from going up 3-0 in the fifth, but Uiato came out of nowhere for a dig and the Tigers made one of their 24 hitting errors. Hawaii scored nine of the next 11 points and cruised home.

"I think we do best when we face adversity," Vorster said. "We never just give up. There’s something about us, we’re always trying to get after it, fight and figure out what’s wrong and no one gives up on it."

The Wahine held UOP freshman Anne-Sophie Bauer to two kills in the final two sets, when the Tigers hit a combined .098. UH won the ballhandling battle, out-digging UOP 79-67 — libero Ali Longo collected 25 — and out-acing the Tigers 13-6.

UOP coach Greg Gibbons took the blame for this one.

"We did a great job of matchups when we won," he said, "but Dave is one of the best coaches out there. He flipped his lineup and then … Emily Hartong is, I think, the best player in the conference. She started hitting balls all over the place."

Friday’s final home match against UC Riverside — senior night for Wahine Emily Maeda — will begin an hour later, at 8 p.m. Wahine basketball plays earlier in the day.