LA MIRADA, Calif.--One nail-bitting match down, three to go.
UH Hilo, playing the first of four very difficult southern California road matches, went the distance in clipping host Biola in five sets--25-27, 25-20, 13-25, 26-24, 15-13 on Monday night at Chase Gymnasium. The come-from-behind victory moves UHH's Pacific West Conference record to 14-3, and they are 19-6 overall. Biola drops to 13-12 on the year and to 10-7 in conference play.
Combined with Azusa Pacific's win over Chaminade and Point Loma's victory tonight over Hawaii Pacific, the Vulcans are now in sole possession of second place in the PacWest. The Cougars lead at 16-2, followed by UHH at 14-3, with HPU and Chaminade next at 13-4.
The Vulcans, who had to rally from a 2-1 set deficit, where led by
Bria Beale and
Emily Wade's 15 kills each. Beale had another double-double with ten digs. Wade added seven total blocks.
Amber Tai had double-figure kill totals with ten and also zipped in two aces.
Other than a romp by Biola in the third set, the match went back and forth with numerous lead changes and not many large leads.
The first set was a good example. After an early 6-3 lead by the Eagles, nobody led by more than two points for the rest of the game. The Vulcans fought off three set points at 24-22 and had a set point of their own after a Tai ace made it 25-24. But Biola scored the next three points to take the set, 27-25. The Eagles again took an early lead in the second set (5-1), but the Vulcans scored the next four digits and the battle was on. The Eagles led 19-16, but UHH then tallied five straight, taking the lead for good on a pair of Beale kills (25-20).
Biola rolled to victory in a sloppy third set for the Vulcans (25-13), setting up up a must-win fourth set for the visitors. Again, no than two points separated the teams with numerous ties. Wade tied the match at 23-23, and a
Alexandria Parisian ace gave the Vulcans set point at 24-23. Biola scored next to tie it (24-24). A Wade kill gave the Vulcans the lead again (25-24) and a Biola attack error gave UHH the set (26-24).
In the fifth, the Vulcans jumped out to a 4-1 lead, and despite a number of challenges, they would never trail after that. UHH led 10-6 after a Tai kill and kept it at four points with a Beale kill (13-9). But Biola stormed back with four straight points to tie it, 13-13. After a UHH timeout, the Vulcans came out and took the next point on a Tai kill, and then a Biola attack error gave the match to the Vulcans (15-13).
In addition to Beale, Wade and Tai, the Vulcans had impressive numbers from Parisian (eight kills, two aces),
Kendall Kott (50 assists, 11 digs), Kaila LIzama (24 digs) and
Armani Moultrie (seven kills). Raegan Tjepkema led Biola with 18 kills.
The Vulcans continue their challenging southland swing with a Wednesday match in San Diego against Point Loma. Thursday they play conference leader Azusa Pacific, and they wrap up the trip on Saturday at Concordia.
