This Week in Vulcan Volleyball
Record: 15-5 (10-2 PWC)

Vulcans to test 10-match win streak against PacWest contenders                              
Wednesday, Oct. 23 vs. Point Loma (12-6/8-2 PWC), Vulcan Gymnasium, 7 pm
Monday, Oct. 28 vs. Azusa Pacific (14-3/8-1 PWC), Vulcan Gymnasium, 4 pm
 
Now it Gets Super Real: UH Hilo hosts Point Loma (Wed.) and Azusa Pacific (Monday) to wrap up their seven-match homestand. The Sea Lions (8-2) and the Cougars (8-1) occupy two of the top five spots in the Pacific West Conference standings. In fact, the Vulcans will actually play ALL four teams that surround them in the standings in the next two weeks, as a trip to Oahu awaits Nov. 2-3 to play Hawaii Pacific (10-2) and Chaminade (12-0).
 
Island Attention: All PacWest volleyball eyes will be directed towards the islands this week, as Point Loma and Azusa Pacific visit to play the Vulcans, Sharks and Silverswords. Combining next weekend's action between the Hawai`i schools, the top five teams in the PacWest will face off against each other multiple times in the next two weeks. The Sea Lions will visit Hilo first, before going to Oahu, while APU will head to Honolulu first to play Chaminade on Friday and HPU on Saturday before their Monday match-up versus the Vulcans.
 
Spook the Sea Lions: It's Costume Night on Wednesday versus Point Loma. Best Halloween costume gets a Vulcan Volleyball Swag Bag. Against the Cougars, it's Black Out Night. All fans wearing black get in free. In 2019, there is free admission for UH Hilo (and HCC) students, faculty and staff.
 
APU start time is 4 pm: Please make note that Monday's match versus Azusa Pacific will start at 4 p.m., not 7.
 
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.
 
Perfect 10: UH Hilo's ten-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.
 
Rematches Go UHH's Way: Last week, UH Hilo won straight sets re-matches with Notre Dame de Namur, Fresno Pacific and Dominican to improve to 15-5 overall and 10-2 in the PacWest. Against NDNU, who took UHH to five sets two weeks earlier, the Vulcans took care of business in just over an hour. They had a more challenging time with Fresno Pacific, stretched to 26-24 in the second set, and with Dominican, 29-27 in the second game as well.

Career Accomplishments: Seniors Armani Moultrie and Kaila Lizama both established career bests in matches last week. Moultrie blasted 17 kills in the win over Fresno Pacific, easily cruising past her previous best of nine kills (she also got nine the next night against the Penguins). Lizama had 29 digs on back-to-back nights against the Sunbirds and Penguins, topping her previous best of 28. Her totals of 29 both came in just three sets, the top mark this year in the PacWest for three games.
 
Defending Her Honor: Kaila Lizama was named the PacWest Defender of the Week for her work, joining teammates Bria Beale (Oct. 7) and Emily Wade (Oct. 7) as previous conference honorees.
 
Next Woman Up, Times Two: The Vulcans have won their last four matches without sensational freshman middle blocker Emily Wade, who is out with an injury. They are also down a MB with Ashton Jessee still on the sidelines. But senior Armani Moultrie and redshirt freshman Kamilla Marinas have stepped up to fill in the blanks. In addition to Moultrie's numbers (see above), the redshirt-freshman Marinas had eight kills and five blocks against Dominican.
 
And They All Had a Good Time: Through seven matches at home, UH Hilo is averaging 566 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.
 
Boss Beale: Junior outside hitter Bria Beale continues to post all-around good numbers night in and out for the Vulcans. She had 14 kills and 22 digs in a three-set match against Fresno Pacific and added 14 and 16 versus Dominican. She had four services aces against NDNU, giving her 26 for the season—tops on the team. The Eastvale, Calif. native leads the PacWest in kills with 280 (3.84 per set) and in points with 4.40 per game.
 
PacWest Stat Column: The Vulcans are third in the PacWest in hitting percentage (.230), third in opponent hitting percentage (.157), fourth in assists (12.41), fourth in kills per set (13.47), fourth in blocks (2.07), second in digs (17.47) and third in service aces (1.66).
 
PacWest Leadership: Individual leaders on the PacWest stat board include…
*Bria Beale—1st in kills per set (3.84), 1st in points (4.40), 7^th in aces (0.36)
*Kendall Kott—1^st in assists per set (10.95)
*Ashton Jessee—3rd in blocks (1.08)
*Emily Wade—4th in blocks (1.03), 7^th in hitting % (.332)
*Kaila Lizama—4^th in digs (5.19)
 
Sea Lion Sentences: Point Loma comes to Hilo red hot, having won five straight matches. That includes their last victory, a stunning 3-0 win over previously unbeaten Azusa Pacific. Back on Sept. 21, the Sea Lions had lost to APU in three sets. The San Diego school ranks second in the PacWest in blocks (2.26). Individually, Courtney Dyer is second in the conference in digs (5.46) and PWC Preseason Setter of the Year Cara Keturakis is second in assists (9.63). After Wednesday's match, the Sea Lions head to Oahu for two more critical matches against Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific. UH Hilo won both matches versus Point Loma last year, but PLNU leads the all-time series, 7-5.
 
Cougar Clippings: Azusa Pacific lost their first conference match last week against Point Loma, but bounced back with a 3-0 win over Holy Names to improve to 14-3 overall and to 8-1 in the PacWest. The Cougars will play Chaminade on Friday and Hawaii Pacific on Saturday before arriving in Hilo. APU, the defending conference champ and preseason favorite, leads the PacWest in hitting percentage (.258), assists (13.22) and digs (17.98). Bailey Henington paces the league in digs (6.12) and the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year Julianne Miller is third in attack percentage (.372). APU has won the last four matches in the series versus UHH, and the Cougars lead the all-time series, 9-7.
 
Around the PacWest: Chaminade (12-0) is the lone unbeaten team left in the PacWest, with four teams right behind the Silverswords in Azusa Pacific (8-1), UHH and HPU (10-2) and Point Loma (8-2). Biola is a few games back at 7-4. Nationally, Chaminade and Azusa Pacific are receiving votes but are not yet ranked in the Top 25. The first official regional poll isn't until November.
 
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).