VOLLEYBALL WEEKLY
UH Hilo Overall Record: 12-4                      UHH PacWest Record: 8-2

Vulcans Wrap Up Long Homestand with Eagle Teams—Vulcan Gymnasium
Friday, Oct. 12, 7 p.m.: UH Hilo (12-4) vs. Biola (14-5)
Sunday, Oct. 14, 3 p.m.: UH Hilo vs. Concordia (7-12)
(Link to Live Stats and Live Video for all matches available at www.hiloathletics.com)

Hilo Headlines: UH Hilo will host Biola in a battle of title-contending squads on Friday night, followed by a Sunday afternoon contest with Concordia. The Vulcans split matches a week ago on Rivalry Weekend, falling to Chaminade in four, and topping Hawaii Pacific in four.

Biola, the Sequel: Back on Sept. 20, UH Hilo and Biola went five long sets, with the Vulcans finally ending the tussle on their fourth match point of the night—25-20, 12-25, 25-17, 19-25, 18-16. Three weeks later is the rematch, and Biola has not lost since that night. That includes a four-set win over Chaminade on Tuesday (Oct. 9), while also delivering arch rival Azusa Pacific their only PWC loss, running their winning streak to six. They have moved into second place in the Pacific West Conference with a 10-2 mark, tied in the loss column with the Vulcans (8-2). Sierra Bauder leads the PacWest and all of NCAA Division II in hitting percentage (.449), and Christina DenBoer is fifth in kills (3.07). Sami Hover had a PacWest high 35 digs against Dominican and is fifth in the conference at 4.58 per set. These two teams first met in 1978 and UH Hilo leads all-time, 3-1.
 
Concordia Clippings: Picked to finish third in the PacWest preseason poll, the Eagles began non-conference play on a stunning eight-match losing streak. But they have since righted the ship, which includes an impressive five-set victory over Chaminade in Irvine. The Eagles will play the Silverswords again and Hawaii Pacific before arriving in Hilo. UH Hilo won in three sets earlier this year, but Concordia leads the all-time series, 4-3. Patience O'Neal is fourth in the PacWest in kills (3.17 per set) and Riley Gill is second in service aces (0.40 per set).
 
Standing in the PacWest: Azusa Pacific still leads the PacWest with just one loss (10-1), to Biola. The Eagles are second, one-half match back at 10-2. The Vulcans are next at 8-2, with Point Loma just a half-match back at 8-3. Chaminade, with their loss to Biola on Tuesday, fell to 7-4 in the conference standings.
 
Fun at Home: The Vulcans are 6-2 this season at Vulcan Gymnasium, and between that, the great food and a general fun time, UH Hilo leads the Pacific West Conference in home attendance. Here is a look at the top five teams in attendance, unofficially, with their average listed.
*UH Hilo (445)
*Biola (330)
*Hawaii Pacific (307)
*Chaminade (248)
*Azusa Pacific (236)
 
Taking Care of Business: Eight of UH Hilo's 12 wins thus far have come in a very efficient three sets. They have also won two five-setters (Cal State Dominguez Hills and Biola), and two four-set matches (Academy of Art, Hawaii Pacific). They have dropped two matches that went five (UC San Diego, St. Martin's).

Best Start: UH Hilo's 12-4 start is their best since the 2011 team began at 11-2. At 8-2 in the PacWest, the 2018 team can only look up to the 2010 UHH team that began the season at 13-1 in conference play and finished 13-3. The 2011 team qualified for the NCAA tournament, falling in the first round to Sonoma State. The 2010 squad did not make the NCAA bracket, despite sharing the conference crown with BYU-Hawaii.

Island Rivalries: Chaminade and Hawaii Hilo squared off in front of 673 fans on Saturday night in Vulcan Gymnasium. Silversword fans went home happier, but all fans were treated to a great battle. Chaminade won the first two sets, but the Vulcans battled back to take the third (25-23). In the fourth set, the Vulcans led 17-14 and 23-22, but the Silverswords scored the final three points of the match to claim the victory…The Vulcans had a miscue in the third set of their match against Hawaii Pacific, falling 25-12, but otherwise battled through without senior starters Mina Grant and Kiley Davis to win in four sets (25-22, 25-22, 12-25, 25-17).

Next Woman Up: With Mina Grant out, head coach Gene Krieger turned to junior libero Kaila Lizama to fill the gap. She did, posting a career-high 28 digs against the Sharks, to go with 17 digs and three service aces versus Chaminade. With Kiley Davis out against HPU, junior middle Armani Moultrie had a collegiate-best 10 kills and a boiling hot .625 attack percentage.

Blocking Business: The Vulcans have been a wall at the net, ranking third in the PacWest in blocks per set (1.69). On the season, sophomore middle blocker Ashton Jessee leads the PacWest with 1.16 blocks per set, followed closely by Kiley Davis (0.89), Evelin Solyomvari (0.68) and Alexandria Parisian (0.56). The Vulcans are second in the PacWest in opponent hitting percentage at just .155.

Defending the Court: If the ball gets past the block, Mina Grant and others have been there to keep the ball in play. Grant has 247 digs on the season (4.84 per set), second best in the PacWest. She has 1,420 digs in her career, with the Vulcan career record listed at 1,559 by Tanya Fuamatu (1992-95). Bria Beale is next behind Grant this season with 174 digs, followed by Basia Sauni's 150.

Hitters from Every Angle: The Vulcans offensive attack from many angles, with six different players tallying at least 80 kills so far on the season. Evelin Solyomvari leads with 152 (2.58 per set), followed closely by Bria Beale with 151 kills (2.57), with Alexandria Parisian next with 138. Middle blockers Ashton Jessee (93) and Kiley Davis (92) follow, with freshman outside hitter Teisa Tuioti just behind with 86. The Vulcans rank third in the PacWest with 12.80 kills per set.

Assisting with Aces: The Vulcans are third in the conference with 1.56 aces per set. Freshman Maile Powell is fourth in the PWC with 21 total, 0.36 per set, followed by fellow setter Basia Sauni--who has 20 aces to go with her 358 assists (6.07 per set), while Powell has 272 assists. Overall, the Vulcans are third in the PacWest in assists (12.10).

Around the Loop: The PacWest does not have a representative in the AVCA national top 25 poll, but the west region is represented by Cal State San Bernardino at No. 1, Western Washington at No. 6, Cal State LA is No. 14 and Cal Poly Pomona is No. 24.

What's Next: The homestand will wrap up this week, and then the Vulcans will hit the road for five matches in northern California, beginning with a October 20 match at Holy Names.

The Coach: Vulcan leader Gene Krieger is in his second season on the Big Island, but has also served as the head coach (most recent first) at Anderson, Northwestern Oklahoma State, California Baptist, Cal Poly Pomona, Westmont, Western Oregon and Warner Pacific. He has a collegiate coaching record of 379-214.