HILO—Marley Strand-Nicolaisen had 20 kills and Siera Green added 17 to help lead the University of Hawai`i Hilo Vulcans to an upset over Dixie State on Monday night at Vulcan Gymnasium, 27-25, 20-25, 25-20, 25-16.

The win was the second in a row for the Vulcans and it was the second straight loss for Trailblazers, who had come to Hawaii in first place and undefeated in the Pacific West Conference.  Dixie State now leaves the Big Island with an 8-2 record in conference play and they are 12-6 overall. The Vulcans improved to 5-5 in conference play and to 7-8 on the year.

Strand-Nicolaisen had a torrid .316 attack percentage and she also had 20 digs. Green had a monster first set and fourth game to fuel the Vulcans in what was their biggest win of the season. Mina Grant paced the defense with 25 digs and Kyndra Trevino-Scott had seven block assists and one solo. Sienna Davis had 38 assists.

"Dixie State is one of the best teams in the conference, if not the best, so that is a great win for us," said Vulcan head coach Tino Reyes. "We played aggressive throughout the match and didn't make many errors, that was the key."

The Vulcans led for the entire first set, but by no more than four points until late in the game. A Green block gave the hosts a 24-20 lead, but they had to weather a Dixie State comeback that saw the Trailblazers rally back to tie it. In set one extra time, a Green kill and another put-away by Strand-Nicolaisen set the table for a Dixie error that gave UHH a marathon set one (27-25). Green came off the bench for seven kills in the first set and Strand-Nicolaisen had six.

The second set belonged to the visitors from Utah. They led nearly the entire way, taking a 9-8 lead and pushing it to 15-9 in short order.  They led by as many as seven points before closing it out at 25-20. Lindsay Garrett had six kills in the game for DSU.

The third set was tight from the outset, but with a 15-14 lead the Vulcans went on a 4-0 run and never trailed after that. Strand-Nicolaisen finished off the set with a kill, her fourth of the game. Grant led a defense that worked through numerous long rallies with eight digs in the set.

In the fourth, UHH put the hammer down, flying out of the blocks to take a 9-3 lead. The Trailblazers would battle back to within three points (16-13), but the Vuls would pull away again down the stretch. Kills by Strand-Nicolaisen, Green, Scott, Green again and two blocks made it 22-13. Strand-Nicolaisen finished off the match by pounding a ball down the middle in front of a cheering crowd of 255. Green had eight kills in the set and Strand-Nicolaisen had seven.

Garrett had 17 kills to lead the Trailblazers.

The Vulcans will continue an eight-match homestand on Thursday, hosting Notre Dame de Namur at 7 p.m.