HONOLULU, Hawai`i—Not many points separated Hawai`i Hilo and Hawai`i Pacific on Saturday night, but the host Sharks scored just a few more during a 25-22, 26-24, 25-20 Pacific West Conference volleyball victory at the James C. Castle Gym.
The Sharks moved to 2-0 in league play with the win on the St. Andrew's Priory campus, and they are 4-6 overall. The Vulcans are now 3-5 on the year and 0-2 in PacWest play.
UH Hilo played for the second straight night without outside hitter
Randi Hunter, second on the team in kills (out with flu). They were led tonight by
Siera Green and
Lucee Fitzgerald who had 13 kills apiece.
The match was tight all night, despite the 3-0 sweep. The final score in the first and third sets was the largest margin that either team held during that game.
In the first set, no one led by more than two points until the Sharks took a 20-17 margin late in the game. A Green ace pulled UHH to within 22-21, but back-to-back kills by HPU's Cameryn Collie closed out the set (25-22). UH Hilo hit a sizzling .364 in the set, but Hawaii Pacific topped that with a red-hot percentage of .485.
No more than three points separated the Vulcans and Sharks in the second set until the hosts took a 21-17 lead. The Vulcans battled back behind three kills from Green, and then took the lead on another Green putaway, giving them a set point (24-23). But the Sharks scored the final three points of the set on a Vulcan service error, an attack error and a ball handling error (26-24).
The third set was more of the same, tightly contested. Again, the Sharks held a slight lead throughout. But with a 20-18 margin, they reeled off four straight points to make it 23-18 and would go on to close out the set and the match, 25-20.
Mina Grant had 14 digs to lead UHH's defense, while the offense hit .248 on the night. HPU was clicking on all cylinders, hitting .346 for the evening. Collie led her team with 12 kills.
After playing their first eight matches on the road, the Vulcans will come home for their Hilo debut next Friday (Academy of Art) and Saturday (Fresno Pacific). Both matches will start at 7 p.m. at Vulcan Gymnasium.
