SAN FRANCISCO, Calif.—The Hawai`i Hilo Vulcans kept their unblemished run through northern California intact with a straight sets victory over Academy of Art on Thursday night at historic Kezar Pavilion, 25-14, 25-16, 25-20.
The win was the fourth straight for the Vulcans, who improved to 9-5 overall and to 4-2 in the Pacific West Conference. The Urban Knights lost their fourth straight to drop to 4-10 on the year and to 2-5 in the PacWest.
Bria Beale led a hot Vulcans team with 12 kills, hitting at a .391 clip. Freshman middle blocker
Emily Wade was right behind her with 10 kills (.318). The Vulcans hit at a season-best .326 percentage.
Setter
Kendall Kott kept the machine going with 35 assists. The Vulcans also had nine service aces.
Kaila Lizama led the defense with 22 digs in just three sets, and
Armani Moultrie paced the team at the net with three block assists and one solo.
The Vulcans got off to a good start. They took a 7-3 lead in the first set, and later took a 13-9 margin to 24-11—scoring 11 of the next 13 points. By the time the set was in the books, they had 18 kills and hit .400. Wade had six of those kills at a .625 clip, followed by Beale with five (25-14).
The second set wasn't quite as impressive on paper but was still effective. The Vulcans broke away from a 9-9 tie with three straight points and would lead the rest of the set. They would go on to hit .333 and Beale would lead the game with four kills (25-16).
In the third set, the visitors broke away from a 13-12 score to pull away to 24-17 and the eventual 25-20 clincher. They had 13 kills in the set and hit .242.
Jillian Wheaton led the Urban Knights with nine kills on the night, who have conference wins this year over Notre Dame de Namur and Concordia.
UH Hilo wraps up their longest road trip of the year on Saturday at Notre Dame de Namur, and will then return to Hilo for a seven-match homestand.
