FULLERTON, Calif. » After overwhelming its opponent in the first two sets Saturday night, Hawaii had to scramble to end its longest road trip of the season undefeated.

The Rainbow Wahine had to repel Cal State Fullerton’s late surge to earn a 25-12, 25-15, 26-28, 25-27, 15-12 victory and remain unbeaten in Big West Conference play.

Seventh-ranked Hawaii (10-2, 3-0) won its third consecutive match and fifth in the past six while handing the Titans (6-9, 0-2) their fifth straight loss.

The Wahine retained their perfect all-time record against Fullerton. UH has not lost to the Titans in 28 matches.

Emily Hartong amassed 21 kills and added four block assists. Jane Croson had 16 kills, 16 digs and two service aces, with five kills and three digs coming in the fifth set. Mita Uiato finished with 41 assists, 14 digs and six block assists, while Ali Longo had a match-high 22 digs.

In compiling three road wins, UH made a discovery.

"We understand that in the Big West, you’ve got to play hard every night," coach Dave Shoji said. "To go five games twice already in the conference is a big wakeup for us."

In Wednesday night’s five-set victory over Cal State Northridge, the Wahine had to win the final two sets and rally from match point twice in the fifth set.

But Saturday night, a sweep appeared imminent. UH held Fullerton to an attacking percentage of minus-.014 after two sets. Meanwhile, the Wahine were hitting .292, and Hartong had yet to make an attacking error.

Fullerton held only one lead in the first two sets. The Titans’ Bre Moreland served an ace to begin the match.

Yet the Wahine’s dominance would sabotage them.

"I think we let down a little bit and just got a little too comfortable," Longo said. "Every time you’re up 2-0, you have to push hard for the third (victory). The other team is trying to fight for it, too.

"If we would’ve come out and just pushed right from the get go, I think (our effort) would have been a little stronger."

Shoji blamed himself.

"I changed the lineup," he said. "I felt like we were in control, and I wanted to see everybody play. We completely lost our momentum.

"It was a bad decision by me to sub. We probably should have started our starting lineup in Game 3 and seen how that went, then maybe get the kids in."

Fullerton responded by changing liberos, improving its defense and thwarting the Wahine’s attack. The Titans out-blocked UH in the third set 7-1, and held Hawaii’s hitters to .186 in the third set and .043 in the fourth.

Offensively, Titans setter Kaylynne Taeatafa — whose mother played at UH for Shoji — passed for 22 assists in the third and fourth sets.

"She did a nice job keeping us off balance," Shoji said.

As a result, the Titans began controlling the net.

"They ran their middles a lot better," Longo said. "They beat us in areas we weren’t expecting them to attack us in."

But with the score tied 2-2 in the final set, UH used a 7-1 blitz to move ahead 9-3. Ashley Kastl led the rally with three kills and Croson added two.

Fullerton narrowed the deficit to 13-11, then a pivotal point went Hawaii’s way. Croson’s long spike out of bounds drew the Titans within 13-12. But Fullerton’s Kayla Neto committed a violation before Croson hit, so UH received a point that extended the lead to 14-11.

The Titans closed within 14-12 when Croson served into the net. But Hartong’s kill from the right ensured victory.

Neto and Moreland each had 14 kills and 13 digs. Taeatafa finished with 31 assists and Leah Best had three solo blocks and four block assists.