OAKLAND, Calif.—Hawai`i Hilo survived a unsettling first set before getting back on track during a 28-26, 25-8, 25-14 victory over host Holy Names on Wednesday night at Tobin Gymnasium.
The win was the third in a row for the Vulcans, who improved to 8-5 on the year and to 3-2 in the Pacific West Conference. Holy Names dropped their fourth straight and is now 2-11 on the year and 1-6 in conference play.
UHH's
Bria Beale led all players with 19 kills, hitting .417 in route.
Emily Wade added nine kills, hitting an astounding .818. The Vulcans had 11 service aces in the match, five of them by
Amber Tai and three by setter
Kendall Kott.
UH Hilo did not have an attack error in the second and third sets, after having 11 in the first. They hit an even .300 for the match.
The Vulcans had to battle back from an early deficit in the first set, trailing 7-5, and had a scarier trailing later in the game. Down at 10-8, the visitors then scored four straight points—two on kills by Beale and another on a service ace by Kott, to take a 12-10 lead. They would build a 17-13 lead before the Hawks battled back to take a 22-21 lead.
The Hawks would score the next two points, forcing a back-and-forth trend. UH Hilo took a 25-24 lead on a kill by Tai, and would eventually claim the set on consecutive kills by Beale (28-26). Beale had seven kills in the first set and Holy Names' Sierra Allen countered with seven of her own.
That perhaps woke the Vulcans up, as they rolled in the second set. After taking a 4-0 lead, thanks in part to back-to-back aces by Kott, the Vulcans kept advancing to a 11-5 lead. From there, they would score 12 straight points, four of them coming off aces by Tai. The Vulcans hit .471 in the set, hovering at .500 for most of the set until the very end of the 25-8 game.
The Vulcans went on another long run in the third set that helped decide the match. Tied at 7-7, UHH scored seven straight points, three on kills by Beale, two on aces by
Kaila Lizama. Leading 14-7, the Vulcans were never threatened after that, finishing the match on yet another Tai ace.
UH Hilo played their third straight match without middle blocker
Ashton Jessee (injured), but the team still had 14 block assists on the night. Kott had four and
Armani Moultrie had three. LIzama had ten digs to lead her team in that category.
Allen finished with 13 kills to lead the Hawks and she also had 10 digs.
The Vulcans continue this road trip of five matches in eight days with a Thursday night match in San Francisco against Academy of Art. Start time is 7 p.m. Pacific time.
