This Week in Vulcan Volleyball
Record: 12-5 (7-2 PWC)

Vulcans Take 7-Match String into Three Matches This Week                            
Thursday, Oct. 17 vs. Notre Dame de Namur (2-13/1-7 PWC), Vulcan Gymnasium, 7 pm
Saturday, Oct. 19 vs. Fresno Pacific (2-16/1-8 PWC), Vulcan Gymnasium, 7 pm
Sunday, Oct. 20 vs. Dominican (1-13/1-8 PWC), Vulcan Gymnasium, 7 pm
 
Seven Straight in Middle of Home Seven: UH Hilo has a seven-match win streak while in the beginning phases of a seven-match homestand. The Vulcans have gone from 5-5 to 12-5, which includes a pair of impressive victories last week over Concordia (3-0) and Biola (3-1).
 
Seven and Counting: UH Hilo's seven-match win streak is the longest for the program for a very, very long time. Last year's 21-7 team had a victory string of six straight, as did the 2011 squad. You have to go back to 2010 to find a longer win streak—one that went 13 matches during an 18-5 season under head coach Tino Reyes. The 2009 Vulcan squad under Bruce Atkinson had a 16-match winning streak, and his 2007 club had a 14-match run. Records prior to that are sketchy, although simple math will tell you that the 1988 Vulcan NAIA National Championship team (26-1) may have had a longer streak than 16.
 
Hello Again: This week, the Vulcans will host three squads that they have already played within the last three weeks. UH Hilo posted victories over Notre Dame de Namur (3-2), Fresno Pacific (3-0) and Dominican (3-0) at the end of September and beginning of October, on the road.
 
Free T-Shirts: The first 75 "first year" students that come to Thursday nights match will receive a free Vulcan t-shirt. In 2019, there is free admission for UH Hilo (and HCC) students, faculty and staff.
 
Watch, Listen, Track: All Vulcan home matches are available via Live Stream and Live Stats. Live Stats are free, while the video is pay-per-view. Per match cost is $7.95, while a Season Pass can be purchased for $64.95.
 
Eagles Sent Back: UH Hilo's wins over the Concordia Eagles and Biola Eagles were critical in their race for a PacWest title. Against Concordia, they played a nearly perfect match during a three-set sweep. They hit .301 for the match and trailed only once—1-0 after the first point of the match. "It was our most complete and cleanest effort of the season," head coach Chris Leonard said after the match. "We served and passed well, and it was an excellent execution of the game plan." Against Biola, the Vulcans shook off a slow start (25-23 loss in first set) to come back for a 3-1 win over a good squad. UH Hilo put the pedal to the metal in the final set, outscoring the Eagles 25-8 and hitting .519 in the process. They scored 14 of the final 15 points in the match.
 
Next Woman Up, Times Two: The Vulcans topped Biola without sensational freshman middle blocker Emily Wade, who was out with an injury. They were already down a middle with Ashton Jessee still on the sidelines. But senior Armani Moultrie and redshirt freshman Kamilla Marinas combined for ten kills in the victory. "After a slow start, we found ways to clean things up," Leonard said after the match. "Armani and Kamilla stepped and played well. We have depth at a lot of positions, and we needed it at middle tonight."
 
And They All Had a Good Time: Through four matches at home, UH Hilo is averaging 630 fans per night. That includes a season-high 877 in the conference home opener against Chaminade. That was the largest crowd for a UH Hilo home volleyball match since the 2009 season, when 1,000 fans overflowed Vulcan Gymnasium for a match versus Hawaii Pacific.
 
Argo's, Sunbirds and Penguins: The Vulcans will face Notre Dame de Namur on Thursday night, less than two weeks after going five sets with the Argonauts in Belmont. NDNU is 2-13 overall and 1-7 in the PacWest and have dropped seven straight since a 3-2 win over Dominican on Sept. 18. But they gave the Vulcans all they could handle on Oct. 5, finally falling 15-10 in the fifth set. Samantha Shaffer had 17 kills in the match and Rowan Jack added 24 digs. The Vulcans have won the last three matches between the two teams and UHH leads the all-time series, 17-7. Fresno Pacific will be the opponent on Saturday. The Vulcans won in three sets on Sept. 30 in Fresno, but they got stretched to 30-28 in the third set. The Sunbirds were tough at the net with seven blocks, and three players had double-figure dig totals, led by Anastassiya Barakhoyeva's 15. UH Hilo has won the last three matches in the series, but FPU still leads all-time, 9-8. The Vulcans will take on Dominican on Sunday, wrapping up three matches in four days. UHH topped the Penguins in three sets on Sept. 28, despite a dicey first set (25-23). Hana Wyles had 17 digs for the Penguins and Kiana Pelton had five blocks. The Vulcans have won the last three matches in the series and lead all-time, 14-5.
 
More From Coach Chris: "Our goal is to get better every day. Whether it is in practice or games. This week, we have to hold serve at home. We can't afford to look past anyone in this league, even if we have already beaten them this year."
 
By the Numbers: As promised by Leonard in the preseason, the Vulcan offensive attack has been balanced. Junior Bria Beale had a total of 239 kills to lead the way. Behind her is Amber Tai (164), who had a career-best 19 kills against Notre Dame de Namur. Emily Wade has 147 and Alexandria Parisian adds 139. Kendall Kott leads the way with 687 assists and Kaila Lizama paces the Vulcans with 310 digs. Wade has 14 solo blocks and 48 block assists.
 
Aces Wild: The Vulcans have zipped in 109 service aces in 17 matches. Nine different Vulcans have aces, led by Amber Tai's 23, Bria Beale's 20 and 15 each from Alexandria Parisian, Kaila Lizama, and Kendall Kott.
 
PacWest Stat Column: The Vulcans are third in the PacWest in hitting percentage (.230), third in opponent hitting percentage (.168), fourth in assists (12.28), fourth in kills per set (13.22), fourth in blocks (2.06), and third in service aces (1.70).
 
PacWest Leadership: Individual leaders on the PacWest stat board include…
*Bria Beale—1st in kills per set (3.73), 1st in points (4.26)
*Kendall Kott—1^st in assists per set (10.73)
*Ashton Jessee—4th in blocks (1.08)
*Emily Wade—5th in blocks (1.03), 8^th in hitting % (.332)
*Kaila Lizama—6^th in digs (4.84)
*Amber Tai—6^th in service aces (0.37)
 
Around the PacWest: Chaminade (9-0) and Azusa Pacific (7-0) are both still unbeaten in conference play, with the Vulcans and Hawaii Pacific next at 7-2. Point Loma is just a whisker behind at 6-2. There has not yet been an official NCAA Division II West Region poll, but the PacWest isn't getting much love in the AVCA national poll. The west region is represented with Cal State San Bernardino at No. 1 and Western Washington at No. 2, but no PacWest teams have made it into the Top 25 yet.  
 
Last Year: The Vulcans had their best season in a decade, going 21-7 overall and 17-5 in the Pacific West Conference, good for a tie for third with Chaminade. They just missed being selected for postseason play (Chaminade made it). Under head coach Gene Krieger, the Vulcans went from 9-18 in 2017 to 21-7, a 12-game win improvement.
 
PacWest Preseason: The Vulcans were picked to finish fifth in the Pacific West Conference Preseason poll, behind Azusa Pacific, Chaminade, Biola and Point Loma. Bria Beale was named to the All-Preseason team.
 
The Coach: Chris Leonard is UH Hilo's interim head coach for 2019, after five years as the teams' lead assistant and 20+ years as a local high school and club coach. He is an inductee of the Big Island Sports Hall of Fame, and is also the President and General Manager of New West Broadcasting Corporation. He is a coaching staff of five assistants, all with Hawaii volleyball ties—Emil Osorio (Waiakea HS and Pilipa`a), Tai Manu-Olevao (Rainbow Wahine, All-Big West), Poli Olevao-Kahapea (UH Hilo, A Mother's Prayer), Sienna Davis (UH Hilo all-time assist leader), and Basia Sauni (two-year starter at UH Hilo).