Photo Gallery: UH vs. Texas Tech March 15, 2013

Hawaii showed up for Friday’s exhibition volleyball match with Texas Tech in offseason form. That was not surprising for the spring, but hardly encouraging for the fall.

The Rainbow Wahine pulled themselves out of it for a 18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 25-17 victory that ended with much more joy than it started.

What 1,589 saw at Stan Sheriff Center was rarely pretty until Ashley Kastl, who had all but three of her 16 kills in the final two sets, got the UH offense going. The most telling number of the night until then was five — the number of kills for UH setter Mita Uiato, which would have tied a career high had it counted.

Sure it was only the second week of practice, aching All-American Emily Hartong only made a token appearance in the back row and six of the Wahine spent the morning opening the sand volleyball season, but still … why so awful early?

"I can’t answer that," UH coach Dave Shoji said. "Jane (Croson) started slow, Kaela (Goodman) started slow. We just made too many errors. It just happens this time of year. Our practices haven’t been sharp. But after Game 1 we settled in pretty well."

The Red Raiders scored seven of the first nine points. The best Hawaii could do was catch them — at 12 and 14 — before fading away.

The Wahine cranked up eight hitting errors in the opening set, with their outsides collecting as many errors (seven) as kills. In contrast, Jenna Allen — who didn’t even play for Tech last year — was an all but untouchable 6-for-9.

The Red Raiders, who finished eighth in the nine-team Big 12 last season and lost to Hawaii Pacific on Wednesday, hit .406 with one error in Set 1.

Then reality set in and Hartong made her first appearance.

It took Hawaii 35 minutes to grab its first lead, at 9-8 in the second. That came on Tech’s fifth hitting error of the set. It would finish with 11, to help the still-ragged Wahine pull away.

They pulled away again to close the third, behind Kastl’s seven kills and another sub-.100 hitting percentage from the Red Raiders. It was more of the same in Set 4, with the Wahine never threatened and Kastl taking over.

"I always think it’s me vs. me and I just need to focus on what I’m doing and not look over my shoulder," said Kastl, a part-time player last fall who never did find her rhythm. "Try my best to do the best for the team … not worry, just figure it out and work on it and move on."

Shoji had no subs at setter or middle blocker, but he rotated hitters at will. Croson and Tai Manu-Olevao, who had 10 kills, started on the left and Goodman on the right. Ginger Long came in for Goodman and Kastl for Croson in Set 2 with Long — the only sub-6-foot hitter — getting Hawaii’s first stuff.

In the third, it was Kastl and Croson on the left and Goodman returning to the right. Shoji stayed with Kastl in the fourth, adding Manu-Olevao and Long.

"Once she got in a rhythm," the coach said of Kastl, "she knew when to go for it and when to play safe. I think she grew up a lot tonight."

Middles Jade Vorster and Kristiana Tuaniga had eight kills apiece, and hit a combined .400, but it was Hartong’s brief appearance that struck Texas Tech coach Don Flora most. The former New Mexico State assistant was floored by the response from the fans and his team when Hartong made her first appearance, with Hawaii trailing 6-3 in the second.

"It was really interesting how the environment changed when she came in," Flora said. "She’s an All-American, a SoCal kid I’ve known a long time and I think our team was like, ‘Hey what’s going on?’ Some knew who she was, some didn’t. I knew because I was at New Mexico State when she was a freshman and had to try and stop her. It just changed our thinking. All of a sudden we played a little more tentative and they just raised their joy."

The Wahine train another month, then end spring practice with matches in San Diego on April 12-13. Hawaii opens its 2013 season Aug. 30 against NCAA champion Texas. San Diego and UTEP are also in that opening tournament, with UCLA, Santa Clara and NMSU here the second week and Arizona, Northwestern and Portland State the third.