HILO, Hawai`i—On a night where the details seemed to repeat themselves, Fresno Pacific rewrote the last chapter to take final advantage during a 25-20, 25-22, 22-25, 25-21 win over Hawai`i Hilo on Saturday night at the Vulcan Gymnasium.

With the win, the Sunbirds leave the islands with a 3-9 overall record and an even 2-2 mark in the Pacific West Conference. Hawai`i Hilo missed their chance to even their records, dropping to 4-6 overall and 1-3 in conference action. 

Tonight, the Vulcans ran into a team that might have been hungrier than they were. The Sunbirds had dropped nine of their last ten matches, three of those going to five sets. On Friday night, they fell in a wild four-set battle to Chaminade, 12-25, 25-23, 27-25, 28-26.

"We met a team that was very hungry tonight," said UH Hilo head coach Gene Krieger. "They found a way to get the ball back over the net over and over and made few mistakes. They played great defense, and that will keep you in a lot of matches."

The first three sets had a very familiar ring to them, but the final set had a different script.
 
In the first set, UH Hilo blitzed out to a 8-3 lead, thanks in part to a kill, ace and block by Lucee Fitzgerald, apparently still hot from Friday night's 15-kill performance. Fresno Pacific edged back, tying the match at 15-15 on a Kylei Dewar ace. The Sunbirds took their first lead of the set on a kill by Gabriela Macedo (17-16), changing the momentum. They would go on to score four of the next five points and eventually win the set on an ace from Sierra LeBeau (25-20).

The second set was a showcase of Siera Green, but the Vulcans still came up a few points short. The Vulcans again bolted out to a quick lead, taking an 8-2 margin on three Green kills and a block. UHH would still lead 17-12 after another Green put-away, and led on the scoreboard 19-15 on a Green ace. But deja vu, the Sunbirds caught fire, scoring six of the next seven points to take their first lead of the set, 21-20, The Vulcans knotted the score at 22-22, but FPU scored the final three points of the set and wrapped up the game, once again on an ace by LeBeau.

The third set looked to have a familiar ring to it. The Vulcans took 5-2, 12-8 and 18-12 leads, only to see the Sunbirds come roaring back. The visitors scored eight of the next ten points to tie it at 20-20, but Green then showcased again. She put away three balls to give her team some breathing room at 24-20, and a Randi Hunter kill finished off the set, 25-22. The Vulcans never trailed in the third game.

The fourth set was at last, completely different. Fresno Pacific this time took an early lead at 8-3, and led by as many as nine points at 14-5 and 19-10. This time, it would be the home team that would scramble back, climbing to within four points (21-17). They would cut the deficit to three (24-21 on a Fitzgerald kill, but two strikes by Madison Pierce ended the match and comeback.

Green led the Vulcans with 15 kills, seven of them in the second set. Fitzgerald and Randi Hunter joined her in double figures with 10 kills each. Mina Grant had 22 digs. The Vulcans hit just .156 on the night.

The Sunbirds were led byu Caroline Bodziak's 16 kills, and Pierce added 12. FPU had four players with double-figure dig totals, led by Tiff Wong's 14.

The Vulcans will continue a four-match homestand with a pair of home contests next weekend. On Friday they will host PacWest newcomer Biola (7 pm), and on Saturday the opponent will be Point Loma in a 2 pm afternoon clash.