AZUSA, Calif.--This one wasn't nearly as easy as the score would suggest.

The University of Hawai`i Hilo volleyball team claimed a three-set sweep of host Azusa Pacific on Thursday night at the Felix Center 25-22, 27-25, 25-19. The key Pacific West Conference road encounter evened the Vulcans' overall record to 5-5 and they moved to 3-2 in league play. The Cougars fell to 6-8 on the year and to 2-3 in the PacWest.

It appears that the Vulcans chose the shortest route to victory, especially considering that this is a team that has already played four 5-set matches this season. But this contest was anything but a walk in the park.

In the first set, the two teams traded blows and were tied at 14-14. The Vulcans then went on a run, scoring six of the next seven points to take a 20-15 lead. A kill by Marley Strand-Nicolaisen closed out the set at 25-22. Azusa Pacific took the early lead in the second set, rushing out to a 12-7 margin before the Vulcans roared back. A Strand-Nicolaisen put-down tied it at 15-15, and the two squads then traded successful swings with tied scores the verdict at 19-19, 20-20, 21-21 and 22-22. The Cougars then scored consecutive points and were just one digit away from evening the match at a set apiece (22-24), but back-to-back kills by Armani Moultrie evened things up again. Another Strand-Nicolaisen point made it 25-24, but a Natalie Klapp kill tied it again (25-25). Strand-Nicolaisen put another ball down and a Cougar attack error finished the long set at 27-25.

The Vulcans hit .318 in the second set and faught off two game points to carry the momentum into the third set. 

In the third set, there were eight ties leading to the 15-15 mark. UHH then scored six straight to take a 21-15 lead, and claimed ten of the next 14 points overall to pull away. Kyndra Trevino-Scott's slam provided the final exclamation point to the night.

Strand-Nicolaisen finished with 13 kills, with most of them coming at crucial times in all three sets. Siera Green added nine kills in a balanced UHH effort. Moultrie and Trevino-Scott had six kills and three block assists each. Sienna Davis dished 33 assists and had 10 digs and Mina Grant dug out 20 balls.

Klapp led the Cougars, who had defeated Chaminade on Wednesday night, with 14 kills,13 digs and two service aces.

It was a great bounce back win for Coach Tino Reyes' team, after drawing a tough scheduling assignment in facing conference leaders Dixie State and California Baptist to begin this road trip.

"This team has a lot of fight," Reyes said. "The way we lost at Cal Baptist last night (in three sets) was not us, and the girls were out to prove that tonight. This was a great effort tonight against a solid team."

The Vulcans will wrap up this southwest swing with a Saturday afternoon match against 2015 west region qualifier Point Loma. Start time is 5 p.m. Pacific (2 pm Hawaii).