RIVERSIDE, Calif. » In less than 48 hours, Hawaii turned anxiety into dominance during its second Big West Conference women’s volleyball match Friday night.

The Rainbow Wahine, ranked seventh nationally, dispatched host UC Riverside 25-17, 25-16, 25-19 for their fourth victory in five matches.

UH will conclude its first road trip today against Cal State Fullerton. The match starts at 4 p.m. Hawaii time.

The triumph came two nights after Hawaii (9-2, 2-0) had to win the final two sets — and survive match point twice in the fifth set — to defeat Cal State Northridge.

"At Northridge, we had kind of a rough time in those five sets," said Emily Hartong, who played a pivotal role in Friday night’s first set against Riverside (4-9, 0-1). "But we felt better today and I think we’ll just keep improving."

For UH coach Dave Shoji, feeling better means adjusting to the three-hour time difference from Hawaii to California.

"We needed that first game," Shoji said about the match at Northridge. "We were ready to play tonight and we played much better."

But the Rainbow Wahine had to rally to win the first set after squandering an early lead.

UH held a 5-0 advantage, but the Highlanders moved ahead 8-7. Hawaii regained a 14-10 lead that Riverside narrowed to 16-15.

Then Hartong took control. The junior pounded three kills, assisted on one block and served an ace to lead a 10-1 surge. Ashley Kastl added three kills during that run.

"I think our middles were established a little more, so it opened up some seams with hitting," Hartong said. "That opened up a lot of the hitters."

Jane Croson seized her opportunity to dominate in the second set. With UH holding a 14-9 lead, Croson slammed three kills during a 4-0 spurt that extended the Wahine’s advantage to 18-9. The sophomore scored six of Hawaii’s final 11 points on kills.

UH saved its most impressive spree for the third set.

Down 10-6, the Wahine used a 13-0 blitz to build a 19-10 advantage. Hartong amassed four kills and a block assist, but libero Ali Longo made perhaps the biggest contribution.

Longo used her hard, floating serve to score those 13 points, which included one ace.

"It’s very aggressive," Shoji said of that serve. "The ball is close to the net when it goes over. It’s hard to track and she can pinpoint it to the weakest passer on the other side."

Hartong viewed Longo’s serving as decisive.

"That was very, very crucial for us," Hartong said. "It frees us up a little bit. We really needed that."

Hartong finished with 11 kills, 10 digs and four block assists. Croson punched a team-high 13 kills and added eight digs, and Kastl had 10 kills and four block assists.

Defensively, Hawaii held the Highlanders to an attack percentage of .115. Riverside’s Amanda Vialpando had 11 kills and Megan Patterson dug 13 balls.