Even on a Tuesday night in a packed portion of the schedule, more volleyball is a privilege.

That was the message from Hawaii’s coaches to the Rainbow Wahine players before a matchup with Texas State at SimpliFi Arena at Stan Sheriff Center.

It resonated for the most part of a 25-17, 15-25, 25-19, 25-18 win over the Bobcats of the Sun Belt Conference, as hitter Caylen Alexander put down 20 kills with 10 digs and middles Miliana Sylvester and Jacyn Bamis notched 10 kills apiece in front of a crowd of 3,065 (4,971 tickets issued).

“We talked about it being a privilege to be able to get here and compete and have opponents in front of us, and the opportunity we get,” said Sylvester, a freshman out of University Lab School. “So, we’re glad to be here and just wish we could’ve cleaned it up (better).”

UH (4-1) will have an opportunity to do so this weekend in the Outrigger Invitational as it meets Oregon State (1-4) on Friday and rematches Texas State (3-3) on Saturday. OSU and TSU open up the three-team tournament on Thursday.

The Wahine were coming off consecutive five-setters with split results against Pepperdine last weekend. They lapsed in the second set when they struggled to side out. Otherwise, they had command of the evening, hitting .248.

“It is a quick turnaround,” UH associate coach Kaleo Baxter acknowledged. “There are numerous teams that play Tuesday night matches, which is something we’re not used to here at Hawaii.

“It also sets us up for next week, when we’re playing Tuesday at UNLV and at Texas and Baylor on Friday/Saturday,” he added. “It’s a lot of volleyball. When our young women are able to get a lot of touches, that’s when we see their game elevate and grow before us kind of quickly.”

Senior setter Kate Lang went to the middles early Tuesday and worked her way out to the pins as the match progressed.

Libero Tayli Ikenaga, who amassed 60 digs in the Pepperdine matches en route to Big West Defensive Player of the Week honors, popped up 14 balls while hitter Tali Hakas was credited with a season-high 16. Defensive specialist Victoria Leyva added 10 with two service aces.

UH took control of Set 4 with a 7-0 run and closed it out with four consecutive kills — two by Stella Adeyemi once head coach Robyn Ah Mow pulled Alexander down the stretch.

Alexander, a junior from Alpharetta, Ga., who has already had some high-workload matches of 60-plus swings, said she didn’t mind after checking out with 44 attempts.

“Coming off on the sideline for those couple points gave me an opportunity to sit with my teammates and just cheer them on,” Alexander said, “and seeing what’s working, what’s not working from off the court so when I go back in I can try and fix [it].”

Baxter said the matches with TSU should help UH in RPI as the Bobcats, a 20-win team a year ago, are expected to contend in the Sun Belt.

UH ended it with a rare dual-setter lineup with backup Jackie Matias positioned in the back row behind Lang.

Samantha Wunsch and Bailey Hanner led the Bobcats with 11 kills apiece.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.