It wasn’t the big crowd or the volleyball tradition that eventually got to Northern Colorado at the rockin’ Stan Sheriff Center on Thursday.

It was Jane Croson’s jump serve, and then an avalanche of Hawaii’s talent.

It starts out like something from rhythmic gymnastics and ends like a Verlander fastball.

Croson’s jump serve is worth the price of admission to a UH volleyball match. On Thursday, it helped the Rainbow Wahine earn a ticket to tonight’s second round of the NCAA tournament against Colorado State with a sweep of the gritty but overmatched Bears.

It’s more than a spectacle; it’s one of UH’s biggest weapons on a team with a diverse array of ways to beat an opponent.

“I’ve seen it before but not played against it,” UNC defensive specialist Amanda Arterburn said. “It was insane. Should I look at her or look at the ball?”

The old sports adage is keep your eye on the ball. But Croson’s athleticism allows her to toss the ball so high and hit it with such velocity that the serve is disconcerting, to say the least.

“I think they weren’t used to jump serving,” Croson said. “It was good to move the ball around.”

Croson was credited with two of Hawaii’s eight aces and one service error. But even when UNC received the serves they often forced the Bears out of system.

“We kind of settled in and our serving bothered them,” Wahine coach Dave Shoji said. “It got them to run out of their offense and we took control of the match.”

The high velocity jump serves by Croson and Chanteal Satele were complemented by Brittany Hewitt’s floater; Hewitt finished with a match-high four aces, three in the third set.

Serving has been one of UH’s strong points most of the season, and the Wahine will need it tonight as they face a much tougher opponent in the Rams.

Croson, a freshman, has improved other facets of her game, and Shoji leaves her in to play through rough spots.

In the second set, a bomb by Croson put UNC in disarray, but the Bears got a decent return anyway. Croson made a nice pass — a play that earlier in the year she might have flubbed.

“I’ve worked on my footwork a lot for that situation,” she said.

She finished with 11 kills in 34 attempts, complementing Kanani Danielson, who had 16 with the same number of swings.

UNC’s Kelley Arnold was a huge force, finding open spots consistently in the first two sets and finishing with a team-high 13 kills on 37 attempts. But she had little offensive support — the next teammates had 10 fewer kills and 20 fewer swings.

As was displayed in the subregional’s first match when Oregon’s Alaina Bergsma took 81 swings in a five-set loss to Colorado State, you might get to the NCAA tournament with one excellent player, but it’s hard to advance without more.

“In the lockerroom Dave said Colorado State’s going to be big,” Croson said. “We’re going to have to hit smarter and hit higher.”

More disruptive serving will help, too.