HILO, Hawai`i—Even on a bright sunny, muggy afternoon in well-lit Vulcan Gymnasium, things looked plenty dark for the UH Hilo volleyball team towards the end of the second set against Point Loma.

Already down one set and behind 22-16 in the second, the Vulcans made the darkness light with an improbable comeback to defeat the Sea Lions, 17-25, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23. The victory snapped a two-match losing streak for the Vulcans, improving their Pacific West Conference record to 2-4, and they are 5-7 overall.

Point Loma, who had just knocked off tri-Pac West leader Chaminade on Friday night, fell to 3-3 in conference action and to 6-8 overall.

Randi Hunter had 16 kills to lead the Vulcans. Lucee Fitzgerald had 13 with a red-hot .407 hitting percentage. Kiley Davis was just shy of double figures with nine kills and she hit .450. Mina Grant had a season-best 31 digs.

"That was a solid win against a team that is playing very well," head coach Gene Krieger said after the match. "It was a good lesson in staying after it and sticking with the plan. First big win in conference play and a step up the ladder of success that we have sketched out. We look forward to continuing to take those steps."

Point Loma, who also defeated Biola in five sets last week, carried some of that momentum into Vulcan Gymnasium on Saturday. They led for the entire first set, although the Vulcans were within just one point at 12-11 and 16-15. But after the latter, the Sea Lions scored six of the next seven points to pull away and eventually claim the first set (25-17). Julia Malinas helped fuel Point Loma with seven kills with a blistering .680 hitting percentage.

The second set was even from the outset, with the Vulcans taking an 8-7 lead on a Katrina Johnson kill. The Sea Lions began a run that would take them to an 18-12 lead and moments later, a 22-16 margin, just three points from a two set lead.

But the Vulcans roared back with five straight points, and with the score at 23-21, UH Hilo got the crowd back into the match with the final four points of the set—on a kill by Fitzgerald, a Davis kill, a Fitzgerald ace and a Hunter kill to even the match (25-23). The Vulcans hit .303 in the pivotal second set.

In the rubber third set, the two squads shared the lead early on, including at 12-12. But the Vulcans then caught fire, led by Hunter who would go on to post six kills in the set, including the game sealer (25-22).

The fourth set was a battle. Tied at 17-17 and 18-18, Point Loma made a move with three straight points to take a 21-18 lead. But after a UH Hilo timeout, the Vulcans scored the next six points to earn match point. During that run, the home team had kills from Hunter, Johnson, Ashton Jessee and an ace by Basia Sauni (24-21). Two points later, Siera Green finished off the match with a putaway off the block on the right side.

Malinas led the Sea Lions with 17 kills, hitting .314. Jamie Cymbaluk added 12 kills, Cara Keturakis had 45 assists and Holley Perrson added 30 digs.

The Vulcans will now have a week without a match before beginning another northern California road trip. They open the trek with a Sunday (Oct. 8) match at Dominican.