Freshman Kalei Greeley may be surprised by her quick success, but opponents are starting to get used it it.
Greeley led the way with 10 kills Friday night and No. 24 University of Hawaii eased past Cal State Fullerton 25-18, 25-19, 25-15 in Honolulu.
“I didn’t expect to start right away,” Greeley said. “It’s been nice. I’m still working hard, and I still have a lot of improving to do.”
She earned Freshman of the Week for the work she did on the road last weekend. She followed that up with an efficient return home, making just two errors on 19 swings with four aces in front of 6,321 at Stan Sheriff Center.
“The fans are awesome,” said Greeley, a 6-foot-2 outside hitter from Riverside, Calif. “It’s a great atmosphere here, and it’s exciting to play in front of all these fans. It was good to be home.”
The Rainbow Wahine (11-3, 3-0 Big West Conference) have won five straight matches, including three sweeps to open league play.
Tai Manu-Olevao posted nine kills, Nikki Taylor added seven and Olivia Magill and Kalei Adolpho had four apiece for Hawaii, which hit .296.
UH’s only issue was 10 service errors, but the Titans (6-10, 0-3) never seriously challenged late in sets.
The Wahine broke an 11-11 tie in Game 1 with a 9-1 run that was fueled by a bevy of Fullerton attack errors; they led 17-16 in the second set before kills by Greeley, Taylor and Manu-Olevao helped them pull away; they spurted to a 6-1 lead in in Game 3, and kept the Titans at were never a threat again.
Holland Crenshaw led Fullerton with seven kills, but she made five errors as Titans hit just .077.
The Wahine welcome UC Irvine (10-6, 0-2) at 7 p.m. Saturday.
