NEXT WEEK
Friday, Oct. 20, UH Hilo (8-9\5-5 PWC) vs. Dominican (5-12\4-5 PWC), UH Hilo Gymnasium, 5:30 pm
Saturday, Oct. 21, UH Hilo vs. Chaminade (9-9/4-6 PWC), UH Hilo Gymnasium, 7:30 pm

Hilo Headlines: After a successful road trip that saw the Vulcans win three of four PacWest matches in northern California, UH Hilo returns for a four-match homestand. The Vulcans will get rematch dates with Dominican and Chaminade this weekend, and will then host Notre Dame de Namur (Oct. 27) and Concordia (Oct. 30). 

Honoring Our People, Past and Present: This Friday is Staff\Faculty Appreciation Night. All current UH Hilo faculty and staff will be admitted free and have a hot dog and soda on us. Please note the special start time of 5:30 p.m. On Saturday, it is Hall of Fame night, with the match starting at 7:30 after the 2017 Hall of Fame induction on campus. In between sets two and three, the 2017 class will be honored--the 1976-77 men's basketball team and Vulcan Distinguished Supporter Dennis Miyashiro.

Road Warriors: The Vulcans hit the road for one of their longest trips of the season and came home with an even Pacific West Conference record of 5-5 and an 8-9 overall mark. UH Hilo won three of four conference matches and dropped a non-conference encounter with Cal State East Bay. Coach Gene Krieger's team picked up wins over Dominican, Notre Dame de Namur and Holy Names, before falling in five sets to Fresno Pacific. The Vulcans played five matches in six days.

This is New: For the first time this season, the Vulcans played a full five sets, twice, on this road trip. Life on the road began with a wild 3-2 victory over Dominican, where the never-say-die Vulcans fought off four match points in the fifth set before winning, 19-17. They also battled back from a 2-1 set deficit to scramble for the win. In the trip finale at Fresno, it was the flip side as UHH held a 2-1 set lead before running out of gas as the Sunbirds won the final two sets. 

Sweet Night for Siera: In another comeback win for the Vulcans, this time over Notre Dame de Namur, Siera Green had career highs of 23 kills and 21 digs in helping lead the Vulcans to the win. The Vulcans trailed 24-21 in the third set and rallied for the victory. The bests for Green come during a banner senior year for her, as she leads the club in kills with 3.80 per set, is third in digs and is tied for the team lead in service aces (20). She had double figure kill totals in all five matches on the trip, including 16 against Fresno Pacific. For the week, she had 79 total kills.

Everyone Plays: Coach Krieger continues to use nearly all of the tools at his disposal, playing 12-13 players per match. For the back half of the northern California trip, he was without the services of junior outside hitter Lucee Fitzgerald, who was injured in the Notre Dame de Namur match, and is second on the team in kills per set with 2.65.

Sauni Success:Junior setter Basia Sauni played a big role in Vulcan volleyball success on the road last week. The Scottsdale CC transfer had 116 assists on the week as her team went 3-2 away from home. She had double-figure dig totals in all five matches, including 21 against Notre Dame de Namur. She had 83 digs on the week and seven service aces. The Laie, Hawai`i native leads the Vulcans with 5.72 assists per set, is second in digs (179) and fourth in aces (13).She was named the Vulcan Pepsi Athlete of the Week for her efforts, along with teammate Siera Green (see above).

Noticing the Numbers: Balance is still the key for the Vulcans, with senior Siera Green leading the squad with 3.80 kills per set, followed closely by Randi Hunter (2.62), and Lucy Fitzgerald  (2.65). In UHH's 6-2 offense, Basia Sauni has 5.72 assists per set and freshman Sha Rae Niu adds 4.00. Green and Fitzgerald have 20 service aces each and Mina Grant has 17. Grant is the leader in digs with 4.98. Kiley Davis has 63 block assists and Ashton Jessee has 43.

PacWest Listing: The Vulcans rank fourth in the Pacific West Conference in blocks per set (2.34) and aces per set (1.57). Mina Grant is second in the Pacific West Conference in digs with 4.98 per set, Kiley Davis is third in blocks (1.23). Lucee Fitzgerald is second in service aces (0.42).

Sequels Against the Penguins and Silverswords: The Vulcans begin their weekend with a rematch against Dominican, with whom they just went two hours and 15 minutes with last Sunday during a 3-2 UH Hilo win. The Penguins are coming off a five-set upset win over Dixie State and are 4-5 in conference play, one half game behind the Vulcans. UH Hilo leads the all-time series against the Penguins (11-4), with the team splitting their matches in 2016…Chaminade took down the Vulcans 3-1 earlier this season in Honolulu. The Silverswords were 7-3 on the year and 2-0 in the PacWest at the time, but have fallen on hard times since. They have currently dropped six straight matches, the last four of those in southern California. Hawaii HIlo leads the all-time series between the two teams (70-35), but Chaminade has won the last three matches between the two.

The Coach: New Vulcan leader Gene Krieger became just the sixth volleyball coach in the program's storied history when he signed his contract last March. The veteran coach has a history of success at the NAIA and NCAA Division II level, having led squads to championship seasons at California Baptist, Cal Poly Pomona, Westmont, Western Oregon and Warner Pacific. He now sports a collegiate career mark of 375-219. Most recently, he led two D-II programs to significant turnarounds at Northwestern Oklahoma State and Anderson (South Carolina). 

Krieger Quotes: "This was a very successful trip for us. Any time that you can win three of four conference matches on the road, you have to be happy. We were close to making it all four, but we just ran out of gas. We continue to make positive steps forward and are not that far away from being in the upper part of the conference. In the PacWest, you can't let up against anyone, and we will have our work cut out for us this weekend against Dominican and Chaminade."