This Week in Vulcan Volleyball
Record: 21-7 (16-4 PWC)

Vulcans Make Final Push for Playoff Spot at Home                                              
Wednesday, Nov. 20 vs. Holy Names (3-22/2-17 PWC), Vulcan Gym, 7 pm
Saturday, Nov. 23 vs. Academy of Art (12-15/9-10 PWC), Vulcan Gym, 7 pm
 
And Here We Go: UH Hilo heads down the final stretch of the regular season this week, hosting Holy Names and Academy of Art. The Vulcans are firmly entrenched in second place in the Pacific West Conference, two games behind Azusa Pacific and two games in front of Chaminade and Point Loma.
 
Rater Love: The Vulcans are hoping for some love from the NCAA West Region rating committee this week. UHH won three of four matches last week, all against teams with winning records, so that should help. Vulcans need a big jump in the listings, as they were in the tenth spot a week ago, and need to be top eight to have postseason hopes.
 
And Here is the Nov. 13 List: Records listed are from Nov. 10. (1) Cal State San Bernardino 22-0, (2) Western Washington 23-1, (3) Cal State LA 16-7, (4) UC San Diego 17-7, (5) Alaska Anchorage 18-6, (6) Azusa Pacific 21-4, (7) Central Washington 16-8, (8) Simon Fraser 16-8, (9) Cal State San Marcos 15-9, (10) UH Hilo 18-6.
Updating the West: The next regional ranking will come out tomorrow (Wednesday), and the following results should effect the new listing.
CCAA: Cal State San Bernardino, Cal State LA and UC San Diego did not lose last week. Cal State San Marcos went 0-1, falling to UCSD.
GNAC: Alaska Anchorage went 2-0. Central Washington (1-1) lost to Concordia and slipped by Western Oregon (4-21) in five sets. Western Washington went 1-1, losing to UAA. Simon Fraser went 0-2, losing to UAA and Alaska.
 
Batting .750: The Vulcans won three of four matches in southern California, all against teams from the upper half of the PacWest. Their only loss came at the hands of first-place Azusa Pacific (18-2), who is now in the driver's seat to win the PacWest title. The Vulcans and Cougars split their two matches in 2019. On their final regular season road trip of the year, the Vulcans completed season sweeps of Biola (3-2), Concordia (3-1) and Point Loma (3-1).
 
Batting .667: UH Hilo captured two of the three weekly awards from the PacWest on Nov. 18. For the second time this year, Emily Wade was named the Defender of the Week and also for the second time, Kendall Kott was tabbed as the Freshman of the Week. Wade had a total of 54 kills in the four matches, the highest total for the week in the PacWest. She also had 24 blocks, also the highest tally in the conference. The Sacramento native was in double figures in all four matches, with bests of 16 against Azusa Pacific and 15 versus Biola. She had seven of her blocks against Biola. Wade had four solo blocks in the Vulcans' win over Point Loma and had four more against Concordia to push her season total to 25 solo blocks. She led the conference in kills while recording a .325 percentage. Kott also led the PacWest with 171 assists on the week. That included 50 assists in a five-set win over Biola and 49 assists during a four-set win over Point Loma. She also had six block assists on the week and 31 digs. She had 11 of those digs versus Biola for a double-double. The rookie from Shingle Springs, Calif. leads the PacWest witn 10.83 assists per set. With a week left in the regular season Kott already has the sixth most assists in a single season by a setter in PacWest history at 1,170.
 
Beale and her Books: Also announced last week, junior outside hitter Bria Beale was named to the CoSIDA NCAA West Region Division II All-Academic Team. She was one of only seven players named to the team, selected from the three conferences in the west region. Beale carries a 3.82 grade point average in her major of Communications, and leads the PacWest in kills and points.
 
Naming the Kids Against Holy Names: Between sets two and three at Wednesday's match versus Holy Names, PacWest award winners from the spring sports will be announced. Also, the Student Athlete Advisory Committee (SAAC) is sponsoring a canned food drive. Anyone who brings three or more food items will be entered into a drawing for a Vulcan swag bag.
 
Senior Salute: After Saturday's match with Academy of Art, the Vulcans will salute their four seniors—Kaila Lizama, Tori Daligcon, Lucee Fitzgerald and Armani Moultrie.
 
And They All Had a Good Time: Through nine matches at home, UH Hilo is averaging 605 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.
  
PacWest Leadership: Individual leaders on the PacWest stat board include…
*Bria Beale—1st in kills per set (3.69), 1st in points (4.20)
*Kendall Kott—1^st in assists per set (10.83)
*Emily Wade—3rd in blocks (1.18), 6^th in hitting % (.335)
*Kaila Lizama—5th in digs (4.95)
 
Home vs. the Hawks and Knights: UH Hilo will host Holy Names on Wednesday, a team that they defeated earlier this year in Oakland, 28-26, 25-8, 25-14. The Hawks have dropped six in a row as they begin their swing through the islands. The Vulcans have won the last five matches between the two teams and lead the all-time series, 12-1. Academy of Art visits on Saturday. The Vulcans won in three this year in San Francisco (25-14, 25-16, 25-20). The Urban Knights bring a two-match win streak to Oahu, taking on Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade before reaching the Big Island. The Vulcans have won the last four games in the series, and lead all-time, 13-3.

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).
 
What's Next: After Saturday's match, the Vulcans will wait for Monday's NCAA selection show. The conference champ from the PacWest gets an automatic berth into the eight-team West Region field, as the conference tournament winners (this week) from the CCAA and the GNAC. The next five highest ranked teams after those three will be in the tournament—mostly likely hosted by current No.1 seed Cal State San Bernardino (who is also ranked No. 1 in the country).