Hawaii’s first meeting with Cal State Fullerton reinforced the power of patience.
The Rainbow Wahine had rolled through their first three matches of the Big West women’s volleyball season and controlled the first two sets against the Titans on Oct. 3 at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.
In the third, the Titans’ knack for extending points helped them stretch the match to a fourth set and built on the momentum in a blowout to force a decisive fifth set.
The Rainbow Wahine hit the reset button in the break between sets and restored order to pull out the win in their only five-set match in conference play so far this season.
Those memories shaped the emphasis for the Wahine entering today’s rematch at Titan Gym in Fullerton, Calif.
“It was just non-stop defense and them staying patient,” Ah Mow said of the Titans’ performance in the first meeting.
“We took good swings, but it was them playing some good defense. So we mimicked that the last two weeks knowing we would come up against them this week.”
The Rainbow Wahine (14-6, 11-1 Big West) embarked on their penultimate road trip of the regular season on Wednesday expecting to see attacks coming back over the net today.
The Titans (9-11, 6-7), under the direction of interim head coach Nicole Polster, entered the week leading the Big West with 18.82 digs per set, followed by UH at 16.24.
Cal State Fullerton is also the stingiest team in the league in serve-receive in allowing 0.82 aces per set (59 total in 72 sets).
Sophomore Julia Crawford leads Cal State Fullerton offensively with 3.42 kills per set and defensively with 4.22 digs per set, good for third in the Big West. She had a team-high 18 kills with 17 digs against UH, while setter Elizabeth Schuster had 44 assists and a match-high 27 digs that night.
“They’re definitely a team that digs a lot of balls, an insane amount of balls,” said UH outside hitter Brooke Van Sickle, the Big West’s scoring leader at 4.65 points per set.
“So we just have to go into the game to stay patient. They’re going to get amazing ups and they’re going to get the ball over. We just have to take it one ball at a time. Not even one point at a time, it’s one dig at a time to not get frustrated and keep swinging.”
In the first meeting, UH hit .300 in the first set with 14 kills and two errors but saw the efficiency numbers drop steadily until hitting negative-.040 in a 25-13 Titans rout in the fourth set. The Wahine hit.129 in the fifth set, but held Fullerton to a .000 performance with feisty defense of their own. UH actually finished ahead of the Titans with 95 digs that night, led by Tayli Ikenaga’s 24, to Fullerton’s 92. Van Sickle had 21 kills on .354 hitting and 19 digs in the win.
The Wahine conclude this week’s trip with a meeting with long-time rival Long Beach State (10-14, 4-9) on Saturday at the Walter Pyramid.
It’s been a tumultuous run for The Beach since UH rallied late in the first set then rolled to a sweep at home on Oct. 1.
LBSU coach Joy McKienzie-Fuerbringer was fired on Oct. 25 along with her husband and assistant coach Matt Fuerbringer. Assistant coach Sabrina Hernandez was elevated into the top spot on a now two-person coaching staff.
Still, The Beach feature one of the Big West’s most powerful hitters in Kashauna Williams. The junior leads the conference with 4.13 kills per set, followed by Van Sickle’s 3.93.
The Beach snapped a five-match losing streak, which included a run of 11 consecutive sets lost, with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-14 sweep of Cal State Fullerton on Thursday. Williams and Katie Kennedy led the Beach with 16 kills each and LBSU hit a collective .339 while holding Fullerton to .140.
“Definitely thoughts go out to Joy and Matt, you definitely don’t want that situation, especially for friends,” Ah Mow said.
“If that happens to any team, definitely they’re probably going to come out guns hot, you never know. But again, we have to do what we have to do on our side and scout whatever they have.”
BIG WEST VOLLEYBALL
At Titan Gym, Fullerton, Calif.
Hawaii (14-6, 11-1 BWC) vs. Cal State Fullerton (9-11, 6-7)
>> When: Today, 4 p.m.
>> TV: None
>> Radio: 1420-AM / 92.7-FM
>> Online: ESPN+
