The University of Hawaii volleyball faithful finally got to see a bona fide Rainbow Wahine go-to terminator Sunday night, three matches into the season.

But she was sitting on the opponents’ bench, and her eligibility was expended long ago.

Rainbow Wahine legend Deitre Collins is now the San Diego State coach.

The UH player who is supposed to be this year’s big star, sophomore outside Nikki Taylor, will still be very limited in upcoming practices and coach Dave Shoji said he doesn’t expect her to play in a match for at least another week.

"I’m hoping she can do something in the gym this week, but she’s definitely not ready for a match yet," he said.

Considering Taylor’s absence and an almost entirely new starting lineup, UH’s 2-1 start is about what you might expect. And the young Wahine did well to forget about being swept by Arizona State on Saturday to bounce back and take down the Aztecs in four sets.

It also gave freshman Kalei Greeley some opportunities she otherwise wouldn’t have had, and Shoji gave her an "attagirl" following Sunday’s match-high 15-kill performance. Just two errors in 30 swings is outstanding for a freshman.

But Greeley knows she must improve on the four service errors. In fact, the Wahine in general were a disaster from behind the line for the first three sets.

"I can’t believe we served 17 out or into the net," Shoji said, adding that he thinks it could be the most service errors ever in a match in his 40 years of coaching.

It had to be tempting to tell everyone to just lob it in, but it’s a good thing setter Tayler Higgins continued to serve aggressively, because it basically ignited a 25-14 fourth-set rout to close the match. That was after SDSU took advantage of a couple of Wahine mistakes near the end of the third to win it 25-23.

"We definitely were concerned about the service errors as the game went on," Higgins said. "But especially since I’m a spin server I have to serve aggressively."

Someone asked me late Friday night if UH won its opener against Ohio in a clean sweep. I described it more as a dirty sweep, because all three sets were close, but the Wahine showed some tenacity during crucial points after trailing in all three against the gritty Bobcats.

Then Saturday it was the opposite as UH fell victim to the broom by ASU, but it wasn’t like the Wahine were blown out.

They beat SDSU without hitter Tai Manu-Olevao, who doesn’t play on Sundays for religious reasons. But she made the all-tournament team based on solid play the first two nights.

UH looks solid in the middle with Olivia Magill and Kalei Adolpho, but Shoji says to expect a roller-coaster ride even when Taylor returns. It’s just going to be that kind of year.

"We have to mix and match," he said.

Higgins said she was happy to spread the swings around, and agrees that will make her and the team better in the long run.

The Wahine won’t dominate every match, but as they get to know each other they will continue to improve — with or without their biggest name player in the lineup.

Reach Dave Reardon at dreardon@staradvertiser.com or 529-4783. Read his blog at staradvertiser.com/quickreads.