What was the motivation? The opponent was winless in conference play. It was 0-for-November in sets won, having dropped 18 straight while being swept in six matches, 21 counting that 3-2 loss at Cal Poly back on Oct. 30 after leading the Mustangs 2-0.

For No. 25 Hawaii, it was all about its side of the volleyball court, playing up and not down, against UC Riverside on Friday night at the Stan Sheriff Center.

It took a while for the Rainbow Wahine to get that message, overcoming a very sluggish start to turn back the Highlanders, 19-25, 25-19, 25-14, 25-14.

Sophomore Nikki Taylor put down 15 kills and a holiday crowd of 4,318 saw Hawaii (20-6, 12-3) survive to win its fourth straight. Freshman Kalei Greeley added 12 kills and junior Tai Manu-Olevao 11 for the Rainbow Wahine.

Sophomore hitter Bri Holmes finished with a match-high 18 kills and junior hitter Ashley Cox 11 for the Highlanders (2-26, 0-16). UCR outdug Hawaii 64-59 and outblocked the top-blocking team in the conference for most of the 1 hour and 55 minutes; the Wahine’s 4-1 edge in stuffs in Set 4 had the teams both finish with eight.

"I think they were more disciplined than we were tonight," said Hawaii sophomore setter Tayler Higgins, who finished with 41 assists and half of the team’s six aces. "They dug a lot of balls and I think it frustrated our hitters, who worked hard to put heat on the ball and it got dug.

"In the second set, we got into a better rhythm, be more prepared. We need to focus on the game, then we can focus on our seniors."

Saturday’s 8 p.m. match against UC Davis has been designated as a "white-out night." The Wahine also will honor seniors Kalei Adolpho and Sarah Mendoza, as well as redshirt junior Ginger Long, who is graduating in May after four years in the program.

Hawaii coach Dave Shoji emphasized that they focus on the Aggies, who could put a dent in the Wahine’s postseason hopes with an upset.

"If we get behind against a team like Davis, it will be hard to come back," Shoji said. "We need to control the match from the start. I don’t want to think about what happens if we lose. We need to close it out with a win, especially for the seniors."

The young Highlanders, playing for pride, made a statement in Set 1, outblocking Hawaii 3-1, outserving the Wahine four aces to none, and outdigging UH 20-11. Hawaii had difficulty with the smaller UCR hitters, who tooled the block effectively, particularly the 5-foot-10 Holmes, who had seven kills in the first 30 minutes.

The Wahine began putting things together midway through Set 2 when they finally started connecting with junior middle Olivia Magill. Magill had four kills and Hawaii used a 10-2 run to pull away for good.

Hawaii continued to have problems with the shorter UCR hitters, including Cox, listed at 5-6, but finally wore down the Highlanders with size.

"We couldn’t block efficiently, our technique wasn’t good, they were hitting under our arms and not at our block," Shoji said. "They served tough, played really good defense. They got us in trouble for about a game and a half."

UCR couldn’t sustain it and finished winless in the conference. The Highlanders’ last win came Sept. 6 against Savannah (Ga.) State when they finished 2-1 in the Southern Utah Invitational.

"I was very proud of my team," UCR coach Michelle Patton said. "We’ve been working on the things we need to do to be successful. We served tough, got Hawaii out of system. We still made too many errors.

"We have a lot of sophomores and freshmen and you never know what will happen in this environment. Winning that first game was very important to us."

Hawaii controlled Set 3, with Magill — the top blocker in the conference, getting her first stuff to help the Wahine to a 22-14. Freshman defensive specialist Clare-Marie Anderson served for the final five points to give Hawaii a 2-1 lead.

The Wahine simply pulled away in Set 4 with a balanced attack. Greeley and Taylor had four kills apiece and Magill three as Hawaii led by as many as 10 — 21-11 and 24-14. Freshman Megan Huff and Adolpho teamed to block Cox to end it.