SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.--Senior outside hitter Evelin Solyomvari smashed a career-high 18 kills to help the Hawai`i Hilo volleyball team to a five set victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills in the opening match of the D2 West Region Volleyball Crossover at The Swamp.

The 25-17, 21-25, 25-20, 21-25, 15-13 victory moves the Vulcan's record to 2-1 on the season, while the Toros fell to 1-3. UHH is now 1-0 in the tournament, hosted at San Francisco State, featuring teams from the Pacific West Conference, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the California Collegiate Athletic Association.

The Vulcans will continue play in the tournament with a 7:45 p.m. (Pacific time) match tonight against St. Martin's.

Solyomvari, whose previous career high was 14 kills, hit .275 on her way to 18 kills. She had much help from her teammates, as freshman Teisa Tuioti added 12 kills, Bria Beale had 11 kills and 15 digs and Alex Parisian was in double figures with 10 kills. On the defensive side, Mina Grant had 33  digs and Ashton Jessee had a solo block and four assisted blocks.

The Vulcans roared out of the gates with a decisive victory in the first set. Tuioti broke a 12-12 tie with back-to-back kills and her team wouldn't trail again in the set. The team hit .333 and Solyomvari was firing with five kills (25-17).

UH Hilo went cold in the second set , hitting just .067 and trailed for most game before falling 25-21. The Vulcans led from start to finish in the third set and finished off the game with a Solyomvari kill (25-20). The fourth set was a barn burner, with the Toros breaking a 20-20 tie by scoring four of the final five points to win, 25-21.

There were nine ties in the fifth set, including at 13-13. Two Toro errors in a row gave the win to the Vulcans in a match that lasted almost two and a half hours.

"We played well in spurts, but not the whole time obviously," head coach Gene Krieger said. "The good thing is that we got the experience of playing in a five-set match for our freshman, and we won it."

The Vulcans and Saints will be playing a rematch tonight. The two teams played in Hilo last week, with the Vulcans taking a 3-0 victory.