HILO--Hawai`i Hilo controlled the net and withstood every Hawai`i Pacific rush to claim a 25-22, 25-22, 25-18 Pacific West Conference volleyball victory on Wednesday night in front of 477 fans at the Vulcan Gymnasium.

In gaining the victory, the Vulcans moved to 2-0 in conference play and are 4-3 overall. The Sharks fell to 5-6 on the year and are  even at 1-1 in the PacWest.

It was UHH's fourth win in their last five outings, and they notched this one in a completely different fashion than they won the other three--winning in straight sets. The Vulcans had played three straight five-set matches and four of their last six outings had gone the distance.

"Well, I prefer this method of course," said a relieved head coach Tino Reyes afterwards. "But truth is, playing in those tight matches has been good for us. The girls are used to it. Tonight, they were pressed a number of times by HPU, and earlier this season we might have squandered that lead. We didn't do that this time."

One of the ways the Vulcans won this island battle was at the net. Through two sets, the hosts held a 14-2 block advantage, and they finished with 16 block assists on the night to HPU's 10.

All three sets were a battle. The Vuls broke open an 18-18 tie in the first set with four consecutive points, withstood another Shark attack and settle the set on a Siera Green push down the line (25-22). In set two, Hawai`i Pacific jumped out to a 3-1 lead, but Reyes' team scored 12 consecutive points, all with Trixie Croad on the serve to go up 13-3. Still, Hawai`i Pacific rallied back to close within a point (22-21). UHH then put the hammer down with a Kyndra Trevino-Scott kill, another Green put-away and combo block by Green and Armani Moultrie.

The third set featured ten ties before the Vuls took the lead for good (14-13) on a kill by Trevino-Scott. The home team scored seven of the next eight points, which included a service ace by Siernna Davis to make it 20-14. They closed out the evening in front of a raucous crowd with a Croad ace and a Marley Strand-Nicolaisen kill.

"We are showing better patience," Reyes added. "We are looking to secure the point sometimes on the second or third swing instead of the first, which is what I want."

Strand-Nicolaisen led UHH with 13 kills. Davis had 24 assists and 13 digs, while Mina Grant paced the Vuls in digs with 17. Moultrie had five assisted blocks and one solo.

Freshman Perta Escobar led the Sharks with 10 kills and Amanda Acosta led the stat column with 21 digs.

A four-match road trip now awaits the Vulcans that will take them into Utah and southern California, beginning with a match at Dixie State on Monday (Sept. 26).

"That's a tough trip," Reyes admitted. "But if we play like we did tonight and keep our attack errors low and continue to show patience, we have a chance to win any match."