It's said that the first match of the season sets the tone for the rest.

The No. 14 Michigan volleyball team is hoping that saying holds true.

At about 5 a.m. in Ann Arbor on Aug. 24, the then-unranked Wolverines took down No. 10 Hawaii in front of 7,343 fans at the ASICS Rainbow Wahine Invitational in Honolulu. Michigan (6-0) defeated the Warriors (2-2) for the first time ever in five sets - 30-14, 30-28, 22-30, 27-30 and 18-16.

"It was really sweet," senior Lyndsay Miller said. "The first indication of how cool the match was was when their team started to come up, the crowd went absolutely nuts. It was a great feeling because we all love playing in gyms that are packed."

After winning the first two games, the Wolverines dropped two straight before a memorable final game.

The upset seemed to be slipping through the Wolverines' hands in game five as Hawaii led 14-12. Miller didn't let that happen.

The middle blocker recorded three straight kills to take the lead, 15-14. With the score 16-16, Miller, who was making her 90th career start, spiked down her fourth kill of the game. An attack error by Hawaii finally ended the match.

"It was by far the most exciting game that I've played in college," senior Sarah Draves said.

Miller's consistent play in game five was reminiscent of the steady output by senior Katie Bruzdzinski, junior Beth Karpiak and sophomore Veronica Rood, all of whom recorded 17 kills.

Michigan dominated game one by connecting on 15 of 19 kills as Hawaii posted a .000 attack percentage. Both Miller and Karpiak went 4-for-4 on kills.

In game two, the Wolverines didn't dominate, but came back after losing for the majority of the game. With the game tied 28-28, Rood connected on her seventh kill of the evening, and after a Hawaii error, Michigan took a 2-0 match lead.

Facing defeat, Hawaii proved they would not go down without a fight. With 23 kills, the Warriors took down Michigan 30-22. Even worse, the Wolverines were up 27-22 in game four, just three points away from solidifying the surprise victory. But Hawaii put on a show, scoring eight straight points to win 30-27.

"We may have relaxed a little bit on them," Miller said.

After taking game five, Michigan would go on to defeat Oregon State and Colorado State to win the ASICS Rainbow Wahine Invitational. Senior Stesha Selsky was named tournament MVP and Zimmerman and Karpiak were named to the all-tournament team.

The victory over Hawaii was the third highest ranked team that head coach Mark Rosen has beaten at Michigan.

The following week, the Wolverines won the Miami University Invitational. Michigan took down Miami (Ohio) (2-3), Pittsburgh (1-5) and Wake Forest (0-3) all in straight sets.

After winning two non-conference tournaments, the Wolverines reached its highest ranking in program history- moving six spots down to No. 14 in the CSTV/AVCA Top 25 poll.

"It's so early in the season," Graves said. "But we're getting better every day and that's our goal. Every time we step on the court to play another team, we are focused on the challenge that the other team presents."

Michigan will roll back into Ann Arbor for the Michigan/Pepsi Challenge starting Sep. 7 at Cliff Keen Arena.