HONOLULU—The University of Hawai`i Hilo reversed a trend during a thrilling five-set upset of Hawai`i Pacific on Friday night at James Castle Gym, 18-25, 25-9, 25-18, 18-25, 15-10.

The victory over the fourth-place Sharks moved UHH's record to 9-11 on the season and to 7-8 in the Pacific West Conference. HPU fell to 14-9 and to 10-4.

For the Vulcans, it was more than just a win.  It also meant a reversal of trend in five-set matches, as the Vulcans had won just twice in seven attempts prior to this road encounter.

What wasn't new was the performance of senior outside hitter Marley Strand-Nicolaisen. For the seventh time this year, she had more than 20 kills in a match, finishing with 25. She also had 11 digs.

The nearly two-and-a-half hour match began how most thought it would—with a fairly easy first set win for the Sharks (25-18). But the tables turned in the second set when the Vuls scored 10 straight points to take a 10-1 lead. Five of those points came on Strand-Nicolaisen kills. With the score 20-9, Strand-Nicolaisen pounded out four more kills and the visitors claimed the 25-9 blowout. The Vulcans hit .500 in the set with only two hitting errors.

UHH continued its momentum in the third set, blitzing out to a 11-3 lead. They would never trail in taking the set 25-18. But it was HPU's turn to be hot in the fourth set. The broke open a 4-4 tie with three of four points and never trailed again in the set.  By the time they pushed their advantage to 20-12, they were hitting at a .500 clip and finished off the game at 25-18.

In the deciding fifth, UHH took a 3-0 lead and would never trail. A pair of Haylee Roberts kills would give them a 7-4 lead and another Strand-Nicolaisen put down would make it 11-6. Katrina Johnson's final shot of the night found the floor and gave the Vulcans a 15-10 win and the match.

Roberts had 11 kills to join Strand-Nicolaisen in double figures. Sienna Davis fed them both for a total of 46 assists. Armani Moultrie led a group of blockers that had 14 total with four. Also on the defense, Mina Grant had 19 digs, Trixie Croad had 11 and Kaila Lizama had 10.

Rebecca Pomai led Hawai`i Pacific with 19 kills.

The Vulcans will stay in Oahu for one more match, taking on Chaminade on Saturday at 7 p.m.