HILO, Hawai`i—Conference newcomer Biola went five sets in their first three Pacific West Conference matches, and apparently the last thing they wanted to do was make it four in a row.

The Eagles fought off a Hawai`i Hilo comeback attempt, winning in four sets on Friday night at Vulcan Gymnasium, 25-19, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19. With the road win, Biola improved to 8-4 overall and to 2-2 in PacWest play. The Vulcans dropped to 4-7 on the year and to 1-4 in conference action.

Randi Hunter led the Vulcans with 12 kills, nine of them in the first two sets. Kiley Davis added nine kills, two solo blocks and seven assisted blocks. She hit .333 on the night. Brooke Watts led the Eagles with 13 kills and Karly Dantuma added 11. 

Biola raced out to an early lead in their first trip to Hilo, taking an 8-4 advantage after an ace by Bekah Roth. But UH Hilo then got into an offensive groove with four straight putaways, two by Hunter, one by Siera Green and another by Evelin Solyomvari to take a 10-9 lead. The score was tied at 16-16 when the Eagles ran off four straight points to take a 20-16 margin. They wouldn't trail again in the set, finishing it off on a Vulcan attack error (25-19).

Hunter had six kills in the set, hitting an astounding .857, but as a team UHH hit just .088.

In the second set, Hilo had the early lead at 6-3 after a pair of Hunter kills and pushed the advantage to 12-6 on a Lucee Fitzgerald kill. But the Biola defense momentarily stalled Hunter with three blocks and started to climb back. They tied the match at 16-16 and the set was still tied at 19-19 after a Solyomvari kill.

The Eagles scored the next three points to take a 19-16 lead but Fitzgerald and Davis blocks brought the match back even at 22-22. Biola then took control with a Dantuma kill that went straight down, another smash by Hanna van Warmerdam and a dump from 6-1 setter Brinley Beresford finished off the set (25-22).

Determined to stay alive, the Vulcans again led in the opening moments of set three (7-3) after a Fitzgerald kill. But the Eagles came back to tie it at 9-9 and the teams traded blows for the next 20 points. Tied at 19-19, net play then became the home teams' ally as Solyomvari, Davis and Armani Moultrie took turns turning away Eagle attempts, bringing the home crowd of 603 to its feet.

Amber Tai came off the bench to put down a ball and give the Vulcans a 23-20 lead, and Davis then finished off the fourth set with kills, both down the middle (25-23). Davis had a solo block in the set and two assisted blocks, and also had four kills.

The Eagles were determined to settle matters early in the fourth set. They flew out to an 8-3 lead and never trailed. The Vulcans pulled to within four points at 20-16, but Biola responded with four consecutive points to effectively seal the set and match (25-19).

UH Hilo head coach Gene Krieger sent 13 different players into the match, 12 of them playing in at least two of the sets. Eight different Vulcans had kills. Mina Grant led UHH with 15 digs, while Sauna Basia had 13. Tess Van Grouw had 27 digs for Biola and Beresford had 39 assists.
 
The Vulcans will have a short turnaround, taking on Point Loma on Saturday afternoon at the UHH Gymnasium. Start time is 2 p.m.