Wahine roll to victory

FULLERTON, Calif. » Think a detour-filled drive through downtown versus a ride down an empty H-3. Such was the difference in the play for Hawaii in its two Big West matches the past two nights.

While the going was slow for the Rainbow Wahine as they won in five at UC Irvine on Friday, UH cruised Saturday night in sweeping Cal State Fullerton (7-15, 1-8).

Hawaii (16-5, 8-2) got a carpool effort over 91 minutes, with junior Olivia Magill putting down a team-high eight kills with no errors in 11 swings in a 25-22, 25-14, 25-18 win over the Titans.

Senior middle Kalei Adolpho, sophomore hitter Nikki Taylor and freshman hitter Kalei Greeley each added seven kills and junior hitter Tai Manu-Olevao had six in a balanced attack that saw all 14 of the Rainbow Wahine get playing time in front of the pro-Hawaii crowd of 531 in Titan Gym.

Freshman Savanah Kahakai, in her first career start at libero, finished with a season-high 17 digs. The Wahine outblocked the Titans 10-4, with Taylor in on six, Adolpho five and Magill four.

"It felt good to win this one in three," said Magill, who has not had a hitting error in her past five sets, going 5-0-9 in Sets 4 and 5 against UCI. "We talked about starting better and I thought we were in control tonight."

Coming back after the five-set battle Friday, the Rainbow Wahine knew they had to remain focused.

In 2012, Hawaii went up 2-0 before needing to grind out a win in five and "we didn’t want a repeat of that," Wahine coach Dave Shoji said.

"We want to reward our players and we were able to get everyone in, but (in Set 3), we needed to take care of business and get out in three."

Not long after CSUF’s Stephanie Buss served long to end the match, Hawaii’s collective thoughts turned to the tough upcoming week, when the Wahine host the two teams that have beaten them in conference play: Long Beach State on Friday and Cal State Northridge on Saturday. The undefeated 49ers moved closer to clinching the league crown, turning back the host Matadors in four Saturday.

"We’re thinking about them starting right now," Shoji said as the team left the gym.

Magill wanted to savor the 2-0 road trip for a little longer.

"It’s one day at a time and it was a good win tonight," she said. "But we know we have two big matches next week."

As for the Titans, losers of nine of their past 10, their youth showed at critical times.

While Hawaii had the luxury of putting four freshmen on the court at the same time in Set 2, CSUF coach Carolyn Zimmerman had little choice with her roster that has just one senior and five freshmen. Two first-year players led the team in kills with 11 each: freshman Niki Withers and junior college transfer Megan Kurz.

"We had our chances tonight and didn’t capitalize," Zimmerman said. "I thought Hawaii got great play out of their middles — Magill and Adolpho really carried them tonight."

And that concerned Shoji. As much as he liked the connection between his middles and sophomore setter Tayler Higgins, he said, "Our left-sides need to get better. But I thought Higgins has made a big jump in her setting this weekend. I like the way she is setting."

Left-side hitter Manu-Olevao hit .087, while Greeley, with one kill on 10 attempts through Set 2, needed a strong third set to push her hitting percentage to .227.

BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL

Saturday
Hawaii def. CSU Fullerton, 25-22, 25-14, 25-18
Long Beach State def. CSU Northridge, 22-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-21
UC Santa Barbara def. UC Riverside, 25-13, 25-22, 25-19
UC Davis def. Cal Poly, 25-20, 20-25, 25-19, 25-16
Friday
Long Beach State at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
UC Irvine at Cal Poly
CSU Fullerton at UC Santa Barbara
Saturday
CSU Northridge at Hawaii, 7 p.m., Stan Sheriff Center
CSU Fullerton at Cal Poly
UC Davis at UC Riverside
UC Irvine at UC Santa Barbara

HAWAII DEF. CAL STATE FULLERTON 25-22, 25-14, 25-18

RAINBOW WAHINE (16-5, 8-2)

TITANS (7-15, 1-8)

Key — s: games; k: kills; e: hitting errors; att: attempts; pct: hitting percentage; d: digs; bs: block solo; ba: block assists; pts: points (kills plus blocks plus aces). Service Aces — Hawaii 5 (Greeley 2, Manu-Olevao, Guinasso, Kahakai). Cal State Fullerton 1 (Buss). Service errors — Hawaii 6 (Manu-Olevao 3, Higgins 2, Long). Cal State Fullerton 2 (Olsen, Buss). Assists — Hawaii 40 (Higgins 33, Manu-Olevao 2, Koelsch 2, Mendoza 2, Kahakai). Cal State Fullerton 31 (Olsen 25, Reed 2, Withers, Buss, Brown, Forsberg). T — 1:31. A — 531. Referees — Marvin Hall, Margie Ray.