After grinding out a sweep of Nevada on Saturday to close a three-match road trip, a well-traveled Hawaii volleyball team finally has a chance to catch its collective breath.
The combination of Kanani Danielson and Jane Croson powered the seventh-ranked Rainbow Wahine to their 19th consecutive win as they rolled past Nevada 25-14, 25-21, 25-17 at the Virginia Street gym in Reno.
The Wahine endured a 5-hour bus ride from Fresno, Calif., on Friday and went through a conditioning session that day.
Even without a full practice, the Wahine had enough in the tank to improve to 24-1 overall and 12-0 in Western Athletic Conference play after playing nine matches over an 18-day stretch with appearances in five states.
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NEXT: UH vs. Louisiana Tech, 7 p.m. Nov. 10 at the Stan Sheriff Center.
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"We weren’t particularly sharp tonight, but a win is a win and we’ll get a little break now," UH head coach Dave Shoji said.
UH will have some time to recharge before returning to the Stan Sheriff Center on Nov. 10 against Louisiana Tech to open its final regular-season homestand with the postseason soon to follow.
"We can all use a rest," Shoji said. "Mentally it was a grind to play that many games in a short time. We’re going to rest a few days when we get back and train hard toward the latter part of (this) week.
"We need to get in the weight room and get back into practice with skill work and we still have to tweak the team as we go into the last few weeks."
The Wahine closed out their final WAC regular-season road trip by hitting .367 as a team, with Danielson putting down 13 kills with two errors in 23 attempts to hit .478.
"Kanani continues to lead the team and play hard. Her hitting stats are good, but it’s what doesn’t show up — her passing and defense keeps us in games," Shoji said.
Croson discarded her trademark high toss on her serves due to low-hanging banners in the gym and hit .292 in hammering 12 kills in 24 swings. Middle blocker Brittany Hewitt put down six of her eight attempts and didn’t commit an error while contributing four blocks.
Chanteal Satele closed a solid road trip with five kills and Emily Hartong had four. Libero Elizabeth Blake had a match-high 11 digs and the Wahine also served up six aces.
Nevada (4-18, 1-9) struggled to a .089 hitting night, its 29 total kills countered by 21 hitting errors. Janelle Batista led Nevada with 10 kills in 18 attempts.
UH closed the first set on a 7-0 run, with Hewitt providing two blocks and a kill.
Three Nevada aces in its first five serves of the second set prompted Shoji to take an early timeout with the Wahine trailing 5-1.
UH rallied and built a 19-15 lead, but the Wolf Pack fought back and tied the set at 21 on a kill by Bonnie Paul.
Danielson and Croson then combined to end the Wolf Pack threat. Danielson put down a kill after a timeout and Croson followed with another. An ace by Danielson gave UH set point, which Croson converted with her fifth kill of the set.
An early six-point run gave UH control of the third set, and after the Wolf Pack fought off four match points, Croson ended it with a kill off the Nevada block.
