Croson leads Wahine win

Before embarking on an arduous final leg of its three-match road trip, the Hawaii volleyball team successfully sidestepped Fresno State’s upset bid with a four-set victory on Thursday.

UH freshman Jane Croson broke out of a recent slump and the Rainbow Wahine ran their winning streak to 18 with a 25-20, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18 victory over the Bulldogs at the Save Mart Center.

After putting the Bulldogs away, the seventh-ranked Wahine (23-1, 11-0 Western Athletic Conference) have a 51⁄2-hour bus ride to Reno today before closing their final WAC road trip against Nevada on Saturday.

"I told them it’s our eighth game in 15 days and at this point it’s just gutting it out and getting through one more match," UH head coach Dave Shoji said.

During their brief stay in Fresno, the Wahine were led by a rejuvenated Croson, who posted a match-high 17 kills, and the Wahine improved to 51-0 all-time against the Bulldogs (10-12, 4-5).

Croson had 18 kills and 18 errors over the previous three matches and hit .000 (four kills, four errors) in Tuesday’s sweep of San Jose State. On Thursday, she hit .250 with six errors in 44 swings and contributed defensively with nine digs.

"Jane’s been struggling lately and it was good to see her bounce back," Shoji said. "She had a really good night all the way around, played good defense, blocked pretty well. Her whole game was pretty solid tonight and we need that out of her.

"(UH setter) Mita (Uiato) feels the hot hitter and once Jane got off to a good start I thought Mita used her well."

Senior Kanani Danielson had 14 kills and 16 digs and Chanteal Satele added nine kills for the Wahine, who hit .316 as a team while holding Fresno State to .160.

Emily Hartong and Brittany Hewitt each had eight kills, with Hewitt also in on seven of UH’s nine blocks. Uiato had 13 digs and two service aces to go with her 47 assists.

The Wahine needed just 79 minutes to defeat the Bulldogs on Oct. 1 at the Stan Sheriff Center. They had to work a bit longer to complete the season sweep.

UH put together an efficient hitting performance in the first game as Hewitt and Satele put down five kills each. Fresno State stayed with the Wahine for most of the second game before UH pulled away with an 8-1 run, with Hewitt and Satele combining on three blocks, the last coming on set point.

The Wahine had won 15 consecutive games against Fresno State before the Bulldogs pulled out a tight third game. UH led 23-22 before freshman middle blocker Maci Murdock assisted on a block, then put down back-to-back kills.

"We kind of let down a little bit in game three and they served tough," Shoji said. "Our team was pretty determined not to let it go five."

UH doused any such thoughts by racing to a 14-6 lead, aided by six Fresno State hitting errors. Hawaii led 24-14 when Fresno State extended the match briefly with a four-point run, but a kill from Hewitt in the middle ended it.

Korrin Wild led Fresno State with 15 kills while hitting .098. Murdock had 12 kills in 26 attempts.

NO. 7 HAWAII DEF. FRESNO STATE 25-10, 25-18, 23-25, 25-18