HILO, Hawai`i--UH Hilo's 12th straight win on Monday night over Azusa Pacific was also their signature win of 2019, at least to date.
The Vulcans won a marathon five-setter against the defending Pacific West Conference champions, moving into sole possession of second place in the conference. The home team did so in front of 633 raucous fans, claiming their 12th win in a row by the count of 20-25, 25-12, 24-26, 25-17, 15-11.
UH Hilo is now 17-5 on the year and 12-2 in the PacWest. The Cougars, who swept Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific over the weekend, are now 16-4 overall and 10-2 in conference play.
The Vulcans next play the Sharks (11-3) and Silverswords (13-1) this coming weekend on Oahu.
"We have played with a little chip on our shoulder all season long," said Vulcan head coach
Chris Leonard, whose team was picked fifth in the PacWest preseason poll. "We have a long road ahead, but I believe that we have the confidence to know that we can compete against and win versus anyone we play. Actually doing it tonight adds to the confidence."
The Vulcans were outstanding in the middle, against one of the top blocking teams in the league. Freshman middle
Emily Wade produced big play after big play, finishing with a career-high 24 kills with just two errors (.476). Fifth-year senior middle
Armani Moultrie had 16 kills with just two errors (.389). Overall, the Vulcans had 82 attacks in the middle with 40 kills.
"That means our passing was spot on," Leonard continued. "We had good production all the way around, but our versatility showed again tonight when our middles took over."
Bria Beale added 12 kills and 15 digs for the Vulcans,
Kendall Kott had 59 assists, 14 digs and four kills, and
Kaila Lizama had a career-best 35 digs, including 15 in the third set.
"That's the versatility I am talking about," Leonard said.
Freshman Annaka Jorgenson had a collegiate-best 21 kills for the Cougars and Bailey Henington had 32 digs.
APU, playing their third match in four nights, came out on fire in the first set. They jumped out to a 6-0 lead before the Vulcans got on the board. Although UHH would battle back to three ties, they would never lead as the Cougars pulled away for the 25-20 win. The Cougars hit .387 in the set as Jorgenson had five of her kills in the opener.
The second set was all Vulcans. The home team ran out to a 7-1 lead, but the Cougars never answered the bell. UHH would lead at 17-6 before closing out the match at 25-12. The pivotal third set went back and fourth with numerous ties before the Vulcans took a late 21-20 lead on a Moultrie kill. The Cougars then scored the next three points, and would have three set points before closing it out at 26-24.
Like the second set, the fourth set was all Vulcans. A Wade kill gave UHH a 11-4 lead and they would never trail in running to the 25-17 win.
In the fifth, with the crowd on their feet for much of the set, neither team led by more than two points. A
Alexandria Parisian kill made it 7-5 for the Vulcans. UH still led at 10-8 after a block and moved that margin to 11-8 on an APU error. The Cougars would cut the margin to one point (11-10), but the Vulcans pulled away again with three kills by Wade--at 13-10, 14-10 and 15-11 to bring the crowd to a frenzy.
"Mahalo to our great crowd tonight," said Leonard. "The student section was great, the adult section was great. Without question, we have the best atmosphere in the conference and that definitely makes a big difference."
The Vulcans had two more huge matches this weekend, against two teams that beat them to open the year.
"Our destiny is in our own hands," the coach added. "We have the teams that we need to beat right in front of us over the last half of the regular season. We have some unfinished business in Oahu. With the island rivalries, you never have any trouble getting up for those matches no matter what the circumstance but have something to prove this time."
