HILO, Hawai`i—UH Hilo rallied back from deficits in the first and third set, and then took control in the fourth to notch their 11
th straight win on Wednesday night over Point Loma in front of 587 fans at Vulcan Gymnasium, 29-27, 17-25, 25-20, 25-19.
The Vulcans improved to 16-5 on the season and to 11-2 in the Pacific West Conference. Point Loma, who had won five straight, dropped to 12-7 overall and to 8-3 in conference play.
While it was UHH's 11
th consecutive victory, it was also their first in a series of four consecutive matches against the four other top teams in the PacWest. They will host Azusa Pacific on Monday (Oct. 28).
Bria Beale had 16 kills to lead the Vulcans, and made it a double-double with 10 digs.
Emily Wade, who had missed the last four matches with an injury, had 12 kills.
Alexandria Parisian had 11 kills, including some clutch swings at the end of sets and she also had four block assists.
Armani Moultrie had five kills and six total blocks.
Grace Hicks led a balanced Sea Lion attack with 14 kills. Courtney Dyer had 26 digs for PLNU.
The entire match took two hours, and the first set accounted for much of the time.
Point Loma built a 16-9 lead in the opening game, and pushed that margin to 18-12. But the Vulcans began to come back, eventually tying the set (21-21) on a block by Parisian and Moultrie. UHH then took their first lead since early in the set (23-22), and then had set point at 24-22 after a Moultrie ace. But Point Loma fought off two set points to tie it at 24-24, and then it was back and forth to the finish.
The Sea Lions would end up with two set points, but couldn't convert. Finally, Beale finished off the set with three straight kills to wrap up the marathon game. Beale had eight kills in the set.
Point Loma broke away from a 7-7 tie in the second game to a 18-10 lead. The Vulcans couldn't get any closer than six points after that before losing the set (25-17). In the third set, the Sea Lions had an 11-7 lead, but the Vulcans battled back again. They took their first lead of the set at 15-14 on a Parisian kill and began to put distance between themselves and their visitors. They would score three of the final four points on kills by Beale, Beale and Parisian (25-20).
UH Hilo never trailed in the fourth set. They burst out to a 8-2 lead and led by as many as eight points (18-10). Beale put down balls on points 23 and 24, and a PL service error ended the match (25-19).
Kendall Kott had 41 assists and 11 digs for UH Hilo. Cara Keturakis had 45 assists for the Sea Lion, six kills and 12 digs.
The Vulcans will wrap up their seven-match homestand with another huge Pacific West Conference battle on Monday (Oct. 28) against Azusa Pacific. Note the special start time of 4 pm.
