UH’S Croson named WAC player of week
University of Hawaii freshman outside hitter Jane Croson is the Western Athletic Conference Volleyball Player of the Week.
Croson posted distinctly different double-double performances in the Rainbow Wahine’s two-match sweep of 21st-ranked Pepperdine last week.
Friday, the Los Alamitos, Calif., native collected a career-high 19 digs and 10 kills, but had 10 errors for a hitting percentage of .000.
She rallied Saturday for a career-high 23 kills — most this season by a UH player — and 19 digs. Croson hit .388, with just four errors, and had three aces to give her a team-high 15.
For the week, she averaged 4.13 kills, 4.25 digs and 0.38 service aces per set, but she was hardly the only Wahine who got hot:
>> Junior Brittany Hewitt wiped the Waves’ offense out Friday with 14 blocks, two off her career high. The second-team AllAmerican averaged 2.38 blocks and hit .400 for the series, with 14 kills and no hitting errors. In her past six matches, Hewitt is hitting .523.
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>> Kanani Danielson has double-doubles in her past four matches, and seven this season. The three-time All-American is averaging four kills a set and is eight digs short of becoming the seventh Wahine with 1,000 career kills and digs.
>> Sophomore Mita Uiato gathered her first collegiate double-double Friday and, like Hewitt, got it the hard way. Uiato, listed at 5 feet 8, had 47 assists and 10 blocks.
>> Senior Chanteal Satele is hitting .413 since the loss to UCLA.
>> Sophomore Emily Hartong had a career-high seven stuffs Saturday and went 9-for-12 without a hitting error. Wahine still No. 11
The Wahine remain 11th in this week’s AVCA Top 25 poll. Unbeaten California remained No. 1.
The only change in the top 10 is Florida going from No. 6 to 7, swapping places with UCLA.
Despite a winless week, Pepperdine rose two places to No. 19. Long Beach State is the new No. 21. The 49ers fell to Hawaii in five earlier this season.
The Wahine (10-1) have their first road and WAC matches this week. They go to Idaho (5-7) on Thursday night (4 p.m. Hawaii time) and Utah State (5-8) on Saturday afternoon (10 a.m.). Both matches will be broadcast live on KKEA, 1420 AM.
