AZUSA, Calif.—Every once in a while, in a David vs. Goliath type situation, the underdog can sneak up and surprise the favorite, who might be looking past their opponent to their next match.

That didn't happen tonight at the Felix Event Center, where No. 5 regionally ranked Azusa Pacific made quick work of visiting Hawai`i Hilo, 25-14, 25-17, 25-19. The Pacific West Conference's second-place team, who has won four of its last five contests, improved to 20-5 on the season and to 13-4 in conference play.

The Vulcans dropped their eighth consecutive match and are now 8-16 on the season and 5-12 in the PacWest.UH Hilo has been injury plagued during the back half of their season, after beginning the year 5-4 in conference play.

California Baptist has already clinched the PacWest title and the automatic NCAA berth that goes with it, but the Cougars have post-season aspirations as well. With the top eight teams qualifying for the tournament, and APU ranked fifth in the latest rankings, a stumble was something that they could not afford.

They didn't look past the Vulcans on their Senior Night. They put space between themselves and their visitors in the first set when they took a 12-11 lead and then scored five straight points to take a 17-11 lead. Overall, they broke open a close set by scoring 13 of the final 16 points to claim it, 25-14.

The Cougars led throughout in the second set before claiming the game (25-17), but the third set followed a different script. The two teams played evenly in the early going before the Vulcans inched ahead on an Amber Tai service ace (6-5). The Vulcans would build that lead to 15-11 after a kill by Evelin Solyomvari, but the hosts would battle back to tie it at 16-16. UH Hilo was still just one digit back at 20-19, but the Cougars would score the final five points of the set to win, 25-19.

Solyomvari led the Vulcans with nine kills. Ashton Jessee had seven kills and a .429 hitting percentage. Siera Green added seven kills and Mina Grant had 17 digs. Madison Ogas and Sara Wagenveld led the Cougars with 13 kills each and Julianne Miller had 12. APU hit a sizzling .370 as a team.

"Despite the final result, it was one of our better performances since the injuries hit," said UHH head coach Gene Krieger. "We are just trying to get better and compete each night."

The Vulcans will wrap up this four-match road trip on Friday night in Irvine, taking on No. 10 regionally ranked Concordia in a re-match that will begin at 7 p.m. Pacific time (5 pm in Hawaii). The Eagles defeated the Vulcans in three sets last week in Hilo.