SEATTLE » Washington’s athletic slogan is "Who we are is why we win."

The Huskies lived up to that Saturday night by being who they are — third ranked and third seed — and having who they have — all-everything Krista Vansant — eliminating Hawaii in the second round of the NCAA volleyball tournament for the third time in five years.

Vansant put down a match-high 22 kills en route to becoming the program’s all-time kill leader. The senior hitter dominated the final set with nine kills with no errors and the Huskies dominated the Rainbow Wahine over the final hour of a 25-20, 19-25, 25-16, 25-14 victory at Alaska Airlines Arena.

It was the 34th consecutive home victory for Washington (31-2), which will remain home to host next week’s regional. For the second time in three years, the Huskies will see No. 11 Nebraska (22-9).

For Hawaii, it was the third straight year the season ended in the second round, this time after 1 hour and 57 minutes. It also ended the careers of seniors Kalei Adolpho and Sarah Mendoza and redshirt junior Ginger Long.

Leading Hawaii was sophomore hitter Nikki Taylor, who finished with 15 kills. Adolpho and freshman hitter Kalei Greeley both had 10, Greeley earning her sixth double-double with 13 digs.

While there was too much Vansant for Hawaii to handle, there also was too much Mendoza, who frustrated the Huskies’ hitters. Mendoza finished with 32 digs, setting a UH record for digs in a four-set match; the previous mark of 31 was set by libero Elizabeth Ka‘aihue in 2007.

"It was a loud crowd going against you and that’s a different motivation," said Adolpho, who finished with 10 kills in front of a crowd of 3,985. "Set 2 was a real confidence builder, and we came back out (after intermission) believing we could win."

Indeed, Set 3 was a dogfight, with nine ties through 9-9. The Wahine got stuck in a bad rotation and the Huskies took advantage with a great run, scoring five straight for a 14-9 lead.

Hawaii never recovered, going down 2-1, and Washington continued to ride the momentum into Set 4.

The Wahine hung in early in Set 4, coming to within 11-8. The Huskies simply ran away to their 34th consecutive home victory, riding Tia Scambray’s 8-0 serving run, ending any hopes of a Hawaii comeback.

"We faced a great team tonight, they have no weaknesses," Hawaii coach Dave Shoji said. "There’s no place you can pick on them. They have Vansant, but they also have five others who are capable of scoring points.

"They have depth and balance, they are big and well coached. They are a great team and they wore us down. I thought we’d get them thinking about things after Set 2, but they’ve been through a tough conference and it didn’t faze them."

Washington coach Jim McLaughlin spread the credit among his players but also praised Hawaii’s efforts.

"Hawaii put pressure on us early, handled us pretty good in Set 2," he said. "We were able to handle that adversity, made some adjustments.

"We knew we needed to be ourselves, do what we do better than what they were doing. The worst thing to do is not be who you are. We started being who we are. Our composure was good and the match came back our way."

Hawaii was unable to be itself, which meant blocking. The Wahine, tied for fifth nationally in blocks, were outblocked 15.5-6.

That Hawaii won the dig war 86-75 was due in part to Mendoza’s career night. But the Wahine could not convert on many of those digs, finishing with a season-low hitting percentage of .088.

Junior Cassie Strickland, the Pac-12 Libero of the Year, finished with 25 digs.

It was the first time in 17 home matches this season that Washington did not have an ace.

WASHINGTON DEF. HAWAII 25-20, 19-25, 25-16, 25-14

RAINBOW WAHINE (22-7)

HUSKIES (31-2)

Service Aces — Hawaii 3 (Kahakai 2, Higgins). Washington 0. Service errors — Hawaii 5 (Taylor 3, Manu-Olevao, Kahakai). Washington 12 (Strickland 4, Tanner 2, Vansant 2, Scambray 2, Finau 2). Assists — Hawaii 47 (Higgins 38, Taylor 2, Mendoza 2, Magill, Manu-Olevao, Greeley, Koelsch, Kahakai 1). Washington 53 (Tanner 25, Finau 23, Scambray 3, Sybeldon, Strickland). T — 1:57. A — 3,983. Referees — Patsy Malta, Dale Goodwin, Margie Ray.