VOLLEYBALL WEEKLY
D2 West Region Showcase, Aug. 31-Sept. 1, San Francisco State (The Swamp)
Friday, 10:45 a.m.: UH Hilo (1-1) vs. Cal State Dominguez Hills (1-2)
Friday, 7:45 p.m.: UH Hilo vs. St. Martin's (0-2)
Saturday, 10:45 a.m.: UH Hilo vs. San Francisco State (3-0)
Saturday, 3:15 p.m.: UH Hilo vs. Montana State Billings (4-0)

Crossing the Ocean for the Crossover: The UH Hilo volleyball team, after half-surviving Hurricane Lane during their own tournament last weekend, will next head to San Francisco for the D2 West Region Showcase. There, they will face two unbeaten squads, one team that they have already played and a CCAA team to open the tournament in the early morning.

Vulcans Top Saints, But Edged by Tritons and Lane: UH Hilo opened the 2018 season with a rousing 3-0 sweep of Saint Martin's, and looked to be on their way to an upset win of perennial power UC San Diego. The Vulcans led two sets to zero, but UCSD rallied back during a stunning comeback for a 15-25, 19-25, 25-20, 25-23, 15-7 win. Hurricane Lane was the winner on Saturday, wiping out the final seven matches of the tournament.

Mina's Mentions: Senior libero Mina Grant picked up two more awards to her early season haul. The preseason Pacific West Conference Libero of the Year was named the PacWest Defender of the Week (Aug. 27) after totaling 41 digs in UH Hilo's two matches. She had 21 digs in just three sets in the win over St. Martin's, and added 20 more and a pair of service aces against UC San Diego. Grant, a four-year starter from Los Angeles, was also named the Hawaii Tribune-Herald Athlete of the Week.

Dazzling Debuts: Sophomore Bria Beale (UC Irvine) was impressive in her first two matches in a Vulcan uniform. Against St. Martin's, she had 11 kills, three aces and 15 digs, and added 11 more kills, a pair of aces and ten digs versus the Tritons. Freshman Teisa Tuioti also made a splashy entrance with 17 total kills in the two matches (and hit .318 vs. UCSD), while rookie opposite hitter Alexandria Parisian had ten kills in the loss to UC San Diego (.320 hitting percentage) and 15 total in the two matches.

More Match Notes: Senior Evelin Solyomvari came out of the gates strong, equaling her career high with 14 kills in the season opener. She hit a sizzling .400 against the Saints, and had 25 total kills in the two matches…Ashton Jessee had five block assists against UCSD and three versus SMU…Senior Basia Sauni (45 assists) and Freshman Maile Powell (32 assists) split the setter duties.

Coach Krieger's Comments: "We were happy to get a rare homestand the first week of the season," said second-year head coach Gene Krieger. "To have a formal scrimmage (Grand Rapids CC) and two matches at home helped initiate our freshmen class.  And what a freshmen class it looks to be. Alexandria Parisian and Teisa Tuioti did not shy away from the spotlight in the five-set thriller vs. UCSD. They led the team in kills and hitting percentage. The third freshman, Maile Powell, carried her end of the setter load with a number of assists and aces. Defensive player of the week Mina Grant showed her true colors and those who came to weather the storm saw a new and exciting group in the Vulcan gym."

Toros, Saints, Gators and Yellowjackets: With no threat of a hurricane in San Francisco, the Vulcans will play four matches at San Francisco State, in the tournament hosted by Academy of Art. They will open with Cal State Dominguez Hills (1-2), who had the misfortune to open with a pair of nationally ranked teams in Lewis (#6) and Nebraska Kearney (#8). After falling in straight sets to both of those powers, the Toros swept Indiana Pennsylvania. CSUDH went 14-12 a year ago, and the Vulcans lead the all-time series between the two teams, 5-1. The Vulcans are all already familiar with their second opponent, St. Martin's (0-2), whom the Vulcans swept on Friday (25-19, 25-16, 25-18). At UH Hilo's tournament, the Saints also fell to Chaminade in four sets. St. Martin's finished 9-19 a year ago, and UH Hilo leads the all-time series, 10-2. On Saturday, UHH will face two teams that come into the weekend unbeaten. Host San Francisco State (3-0) topped two PacWest teams at the NorCal Volleyball Classic, sweeping Notre Dame de Namur and Holy Names, while also winning in three over NAIA opponent Pacific Union. The Gators were 8-18 last year and are picked to finish fifth in the Northern Division of the CCAA this year. The Vulcans and Gators met for the first time last year, with UH Hilo winning in three sets. Montana State Billings (4-0) is the final opponent for the Vulcans on Saturday. The Yellowjackets won matches at the Minnesota State Moorhead Classic, going five sets to edge South Dakota Mines and Univ. of Mary. They won in four over Minot State and took out Western State (Colo.) in three. MSUB went 9-21 last season and are picked to finish ninth in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference this year. UH Hilo leads the all-time series between the two (18-11), including the last four match-ups.

Coach Part II: "The crossover gives us a chance to play four more matches before PacWest play and hopefully build team and individual confidence," Krieger added. "It also showcases a cross section of teams in our region to show us where we are in the big picture as we build toward being an NCAA regional tournament contender."

Around the Loop: Six versions of the D2 West Region Showcase will take place this weekend, all of them featuring teams from the PacWest, CCAA and the GNAC. In last week's opening round of play involving PacWest teams, only Chaminade came out completely unscathed with a 2-0 record. Biola and Azusa Pacific, both receiving votes in the national poll, went 2-1 and 2-2 respectively. Both of those teams will play in APU's showcase, in a pod featuring nationally ranked Western Washington (#5) and Cal State San Bernardino (#11).

What's Next: After the bay area trip, the Vulcans will return home and ready themselves for their PacWest openers. They will host Dominican on Friday, Sept. 7 and Notre Dame de Namur on Monday, Sept. 10. Both matches will start at 7 p.m. at Vulcan Gymnasium.