The University of Hawaii volleyball team found the remedy on Friday night: Starve Pepperdine, feed outside hitter Scott Hartley.

Coming off the sideline late in the second set, Hartley finished with 14 kills and hit .476 to power the sixth-ranked Rainbow Warriors to a 28-26, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18 victory over No. 5 Pepperdine before 3,469 in the Stan Sheriff Center.

Coupled with Stanford’s upset of Brigham Young, the Warriors gained sole possession of second place in the Mountain Pacific Sports Federation. The Warriors are 14-3 overall and 11-2 in the MPSF.

Pepperdine fell to 13-3 and 9-3.

The rematch is Sunday at 5 p.m. It will not be televised.

"It’s unreal," said Hartley, who replaced second outside hitter Kupono Fey.

This week, several Warriors, including Hartley and opposite Brook Sedore, suffered from flu-like symptoms.

"I got a lot of rest this week because I was sick," said Hartley, a fifth-year senior and co-captain. "Maybe that helped me. I was sleeping a lot. I missed one day of practice."

But in practices Wednesday and Thursday, Hartley said, "I felt great. I think the confidence came out."

The Warriors rallied to win the opening set. The final point came when 6-foot-9 middle blocker Davis Holt, who served after UH exhausted its substitutions, came up with a dig. Siki Zarkovic slammed set point.

But the Warriors struggled in the second set, giving away 14 points on errors, including eight on serves.

"That was definitely on all of us," setter Jennings Franciskovic said. "We know we can beat them."

Fey has been an active defender and accurate passer this season. But in the first two sets, he did not have a dig. Late in the second set, coach Charlie Wade turned to Hartley.

"Scotty’s worked hard," Wade said.

It usually takes a few swings for Hartley to find his rhythm. With the Waves sliding two blockers in front of middle Taylor Averill and with Sedore not his usual feisty self, Franciskovic turned to Hartley and Zarkovic.

On feeding Hartley, Franciskovic said: "You find the hot guy and give him the ball and ride him all the way."

Hartley is at his best hitting line from the left pin. With the Waves constructing angle blocks, Hartley was able to score off ricochets or down the line.

"That was great," Hartley said. "I was crushing line."

But in this spy-versus-spy matchup, Hartley figured it was only a matter of time before the Waves would adjust their corner blocks. In the fourth set, Hartley hit three consecutive crossing shots at three different speeds. The first was a roll shot over a double block. A second hit off a block, then tight-roped on the net before falling out of bounds. The third was a blast.

"Sometimes balls drop, sometimes they don’t," Hartley said. "It was lucky for me tonight."

No. 6 Hawaii def. No. 5 Pepperdine 28-26, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists. Service Aces — Pepperdine 1 (Taylor). Hawaii 4 (Zarkovic 2, Averill 2). Service errors — Pepperdine 12 (West 4, Rhein 3, Penning 2, Kalmbach, Taylor, Tarantino). Hawaii 15 (Sedore 7, Zarkovic 3, Fey 2, Hartley, Averill, Leung). Assists — Pepperdine 48 (West 40, Anderson 4, Penning 2, Taylor, Antonijevic). Hawaii 59 (Franciskovic 52, Kanetake 3, Zarkovic 2, Sedore, Fey). T — 2:18. A — 3,469. Referees — Bill Forrester, Dickson Chun. 

Friday

Hawaii def. Pepperdine, 28-26, 22-25, 25-22, 25-18

Stanford def. BYU, 21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-18

Long Beach State def. UCLA, 20-25, 25-23, 27-25, 25-23, 15-11

UC Santa Barbara def. CSUN, 25-18, 25-20, 25-16

Cal Baptist def. UC San Diego, 19-25, 25-18, 26-24, 26-24

UC Irvine def. Ball State, 25-16, 30-28, 25-18

Saturday

BYU at Stanford

Ball State at UC?San Diego (non-conference

Sunday

Pepperdine at Hawaii, 5 p.m.