This Week in Vulcan Volleyball
Record: 18-6 (13-3 PWC)

SoCal Trip is Next for Title-Contending Vulcans                                              
Monday, Nov. 11 @Biola (13-11/10-6 PWC), La Mirada, Calif., 7 pm PT
Wednesday, Nov. 13 @Point Loma (16-9/12-5 PWC), San Diego, Calif., 7 pm PT
Thursday, Nov. 14 @Azusa Pacific (21-4/15-2 PWC), Azusa, Calif., 6 pm PT
Saturday, Nov. 16 @Concordia (14-10/8-8 PWC), Irvine, Calif., 5 pm PT
 
No Disneyland, No Mickey: The Vulcans head to southern California this week for their most important business trip of the season—there is no Disneyland on the docket. UH Hilo, one half-game out of first place with a 13-3 conference record, will tackle four very good squads, including conference leader Azusa Pacific.
 
Conference Stand Off: There has not likely been a closer volleyball race in the Pacific West Conference archives this late in the season than this one. The Cougars (15-2), hold a scant lead over the three Hawai`i schools (13-3), who all make the trip to SoCal to play the same four schools. This past week, the Hawaii trio made a mess of the standings, with Hawaii Pacific beating UHH and Chaminade, while the Vulcans also took down the Silverswords.
 
Very Little West Coast Love: Despite having four of the best records in the entire NCAA Division II west region, there was very little love handed out to the PacWest contenders when the first official region poll came out last Wednesday. The Vulcans were actually the top vote getter, checking in at No. 9 on a ten-team list. Azusa Pacific is tenth, leaving Chaminade and HPU somewhere behind them. There will be two more polls (Nov. 13, 20) before the NCAA Selection Show on Nov. 25. The champions from the PacWest, the Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the California Collegiate Athletic Association get automatic bids, followed by the next five teams in this ranking.
 
And Here is the Nov. 6 List: (1) Cal State San Bernardino 21-0, (2) Western Washington 21-1, (3) Cal State LA 15-6, (4) Alaska Anchorage 16-6, (5) UC San Diego 15-7, (6) Central Washington 14-8, (7) Simon Fraser 14-8, (8) Cal State San Marcos 14-8, (9) Hawai`i Hilo 18-6, (10) Azusa Pacific 18-4.
 
Chris Says: "We are happy to be in the conversation, but not content with where we sit," said Vulcan head coach Chris Leonard, whose team is 17-6 in region matches and 18-6 overall. "We still have a long ways to go. We have a very challenging road trip coming up. We are of the mindset that we have to continually prove ourselves. We still think that we are among the best teams in our conference and the west region, but we have to go out and prove it, and this next road trip gives us our opportunity to do just that."
 
Island Split: The Vulcans went to Honolulu last weekend, and played ten sets—coming away with a split against Hawaii Pacific (loss) and Chaminade (win). UH Hilo played nearly five hours of volleyball is less than 24 hours in two knock-down battles. The Vulcans had four match points on Saturday but lost to the Sharks. They then took a 2-0 lead against Chaminade and held on for dear life with a 15-12 margin in the fifth.
 
Awards Sweep: When the Pacific West Conference Weekly awards came out on Monday, the Vulcans got the first clean sweep of the season. The action included the Oahu games and the previous Monday win over Azusa Pacific in Hilo. Bria Beale was the PacWest Player of the Week, tallying a total of 58 kills and 46 digs in the three matches. That included a career-high 25 kills against HPU. Emily Wade was tabbed the Defender of the Week, with 23 blocks on the week. She also had a collegiate-best 24 kills against APU, to go with 10 blocks. Setter Kendall Kott was named the Freshman of the Week. She had 159 assists, including 59 against APU and 54 versus HPU. She also had 16 digs against the Sharks and 14 versus the Cougars.
 
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.
 
Boss Beale: Junior outside hitter Bria Beale continues to post all-around good numbers night in and out for the Vulcans. She has had double-figure kill totals in her last 15 matches, and has double-figure dig totals in ten of her last 11 outings. She leads the Vulcans in kills (354), points (402.5), aces (28), and is second in digs (288). She leads the PacWest in kills and points.
 
PacWest Stat Column: The Vulcans are fourth in the PacWest in hitting percentage (.226), fourth in opponent hitting percentage (.162), fourth in assists (12.47), fourth in kills per set (13.32), third in blocks (2.13), third in digs (17.21) and first in fewest opponent aces (0.97)
 
PacWest Leadership: Individual leaders on the PacWest stat board include…
*Bria Beale—1st in kills per set (3.85), 1st in points (4.38)
*Kendall Kott—1^st in assists per set (10.86)
*Emily Wade—3rd in blocks (1.11), 6^th in hitting % (.338)
*Kaila Lizama—4th in digs (5.01)
 
SoCal : UH Hilo's trip begins with a Monday night match at Biola. The Eagles are coming off a four-set loss to rival Azusa Pacific on Saturday night, but prior to that Biola had won five of their last six matches.The Vulcans topped the Eagles on Oct. 12 in Hilo, 23-25, 25-21, 25-19, 25-8. UHH leads the young all-time series between the two, 5-2. Abigail Copeland is second in the PacWest in blocks (1.23) and Preseason Libero of the Year Sami Hover is third in digs at 5.22. Point Loma has won four matches in a row after their rough Hawaii trip (three losses) to improve to 16-9 on the season. Madie Fox is fourth in the PacWest in hitting percentage (.354) and is fifth in kills per set (3.19). Preseason Setter of the Year Cara Keturakis is second in the PWC in assists (9.78). The Vulcans won earlier this year in Hilo, 29-27, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19, but the Sea Lions lead the all-time series, 7-6…Azusa Pacific has now won five in a row since losing to the Vulcans in Hilo, 20-25, 25-12, 24-26, 25-17, 15-11. Preseason Player of the Year Julianne Miller is first in the conference in hitting percentage (.390) and is seventh in blocks (0.87). Bailey Henington tops the PacWest in digs at 5.81 per set. In picking up the win last month over the Cougars, the Vulcans snapped a four-match losing skid to APU, and UHH leads the all-time series, 10-7. UH Hilo wraps up the trip in Irvine against Concordia. The Eagles will play Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade before the Vulcans arrive, and they take an even 8-8 PacWest record into the week. The Eagles are one of the top blocking teams in the league, paced by conference leader Hannah Tostado (1.28) and Mackenzie Jensen (0.91). Julia DenBoer is fifth in the PacWest in digs per set (4.88). The Vulcans tagged the Eagles on Oct. 10 in Hilo, 25-17, 25-21, 25-14, and UHH now leads the all-time series, 5-4.

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 the Southland trip, the Vulcans return home for their final two regular season matches of the year, hosting Holy Names on Nov. 20 and Academy of Art on Nov. 23.