Long? Too long, according to Hawaii coach Charlie Wade.

His Rainbow Warriors had not won in the Stan Sheriff Center since Feb. 5, when they took down then-No. 1 UCLA.

Seven weeks and six home matches later, No. 8 Hawaii walked out of the arena with a win. A big win.

Led by senior hitter Siki Zarkovic’s career-high 25 kills and freshman middle Nainoa Frank’s career-best 10 kills — including the match-ender — the Warriors rallied past No. 14 UC Irvine 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-9.

A crowd of 2,280 watched for 2 hours and 31 minutes as Hawaii defeated UCI for the first time in Honolulu in six matches dating back to 2010. The Warriors (13-9, 8-9 MPSF) inched closer to securing a conference tournament playoff berth while holding at No. 7 in the standings.

A win in tonight’s rematch with the Anteaters (8-16, 5-12) clinches a spot in the eight-team tournament.

“We hadn’t won at home in so long, but I had a feeling it would come tonight,” said Frank, whose lone error came late in Set 5 when he tried to put down an overpass. “I’m so glad that Joe (freshman setter Worsley) could trust me on that last point.

“We’re feeling really comfortable with our lineup. This feels good.”

It was the fourth five-setter for Hawaii, which improved to 2-2 when it goes the distance. For UCI, it was its seventh and fifth in the last seven, all coming on the road.

“I hope it goes five again,” Anteater coach David Kniffin said, his team now 4-3 in five-setters. “I was surprised that Hawaii looked a little rusty. But they cleaned it up.”

Hawaii hit .400 or better in the three sets it won, including .462 in Sets 3 and 5. The critical one was the fifth, where the Warriors were up 8-6 at the changeover.

It quickly became 11-6 behind the 3-0 serving run of freshman reserve Brett Rosenmeier. Worsley added his second ace — and the team’s eighth — to extend the lead to 14-8.

“This was a game of momentum and we had it at the end,” Zarkovic said. “This should boost our confidence. We look for another win tomorrow.”

The defending MPSF champions, on the road since March 5, were led by junior setter-turned-hitter Michael Saeta’s 19 kills. Junior hitter Thomas Hodges added 17, hitting .696, and freshman hitter David Parker 14 for the Anteaters who have played in four states and three time zones since last Saturday.

Hawaii senior libero Kolby Kanetake finished with nine digs and into third place on the UH career dig list.

Zarkovic was nearly flawless in the opening set, hitting .636 with just one error and eight kills. His last three kills helped Hawaii take a 21-16 lead and, one sideout later, Rosenmeier served two aces in a 3-0 closing run.

The momentum traded sides in Set 2. Zarkovic’s 11th kill gave the Warriors a short-lived 9-7 lead, but three UH errors combined with a UCI block and a kill by Saeta put the Anteaters up 12-9.

Hawaii tied it five times, the last at 21, and then went ahead at 22-21 when Saeta’s finesse shot landed in the net. UCI regrouped after a timeout, using kills by Saeta and Hodges and an attack error by Kupono Fey to gain set point.

The Warriors held off one — on Zarkovic’s 15th kill — but not a second with the Anteaters evening it up on Hodges’ second kill.

Set 3 was equally tight with 10 ties, the last at 22. Worsley won a joust on a service overpass and David Parker’s hitting error gave the Warriors set point at 24-22.

Parker came back with a kill to prolong the inevitable.

UCI would not go away, breaking an 18-18 tie in Set 4 with kills by Parker and Hodges. Hodges added another kill and the Anteaters gained separation at 22-19 and never looked back to force a fifth set.

MPSF VOLLEYBALL

Friday

Hawaii def. UC Irvine 25-17, 23-25,

25-23, 21-25, 15-9

Stanford def. Cal Baptist 25-16, 25-20, 25-19

BYU def. UC San Diego 25-18, 26-24,

25-21

Today

UC Irvine at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff UCLA at Long Beach State

BYU at UC San Diego

UC Santa Barbara at CSUN

USC at Pepperdine

Cal Baptist at Holy Names

No. 8 UH def. No. 14 UC Irvine 25-17, 23-25, 25-23, 21-25, 15-9

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces).infox0AService Aces — UCI 3 (Saeta 2, Russell). Hawaii 8 (Worsley 2, Rosenmeier 2, Zarkovic, Frank, Fey, Mol) Service errors — UCI 19 (Saeta 5, Hodges 5, Agopian 5, Russell 2, Parker, Chakravorti). Hawaii 8 (Zarkovic 3, Frank 2, Mol 2, van Tilburg).Assists — UCI 60 (Chakravorti 56, Hoffman 2, Saeta, Parker). Hawaii 55 (Worsley 41, Franciskovic 6, Kanetake 3, Zarkovic 2, Fey 2, McKellar). T — 2:31. Officials — Ray Mink, Wayne Lee. A — 2,280.