This Week in Vulcan Volleyball
Record: 23-7 (Final PWC 18-4, 2^nd place)

Vulcans Get Rematch at NCAA West Regional                                             
Thursday, Dec. 5 vs. Western Washington (26-2, 18-2 GNAC), The Den, San Bernardino, Calif., 2:30 p.m. PT (12:30 p.m. Hawai`i)
Friday, Dec. 6, Semi-Finals, TBA, 5 p.m. PT 
Saturday, Dec. 7, Finals, TBA, 7 p.m. PT
Live Stats: https://www.csusbathletics.com/sidearmstats/wvball/summary
Live Video: https://ccaanetwork.com/csusb/?B=156487
Tournament Website: https://www.csusbathletics.com/feature/19NCAAWestRegion

Vulcans and Vikings Meet in SoCal: UH Hilo and Western Washington will meet for the second time this season, this time with much more at stake at the NCAA West Region Tournament in San Bernardino, Calif. The Vulcans (No. 7 seed) and Vikings (No. 2 seed) meet in Thursday's second match at 12:30 pm Hawaii time.
 
30 Miles East: UH Hilo and Western Washington squared off in the second weekend of the season back on September 14 in the D2 West Region Showcase at Cal Poly Pomona. The Vikings took a five-set thriller from the Vulcans, rallying back from a 2-1 deficit. The rematch is also in southern California, this time in San Bernardino, about 30 miles east of Pomona.
 
Meeting in the Middle-ish: Western Washington will travel 1,275 miles from Bellingham to east Los Angeles and the Vulcans will make the 2,516 mile trip from the Big Island of Hawai`i.
 
Rubber Match: This will be the third time in the all-time series history that these two teams have met. The first came in 1999, with the Vulcans claiming a five-set win in Hilo, and the second was this year in Pomona.
 
The Bracket: Four matches kick off the tournament on Thursday, all single-elimination bouts with the winner moving on and the loser returning home.
No. 8 Central Washington (18-10) vs. No. 1 Cal State San Bernardino (27-0), 7:30 pm
No. 4 Alaska Anchorage (22-6) vs. No. 5 UC San Diego (18-8), 5 pm
No. 2 Western Washington (26-2) vs. No. 7 Hawai`i Hilo (23-7), 2:30 pm
No. 3 Cal State LA (20-8) vs. No. 6 Azusa Pacific (26-4), Noon
 
What's at Stake: The winner of the eight-team west region tournament will join seven other regional champs in Denver, Colo. for the NCAA II National Championships (Elite Eight). The championships will run Dec. 12-14 at the Auraria Events Center, on the campus of Metro State.
 
Sixth Time is a Charm?: This is the sixth time that the Vulcans have qualified for the NCAA tournament, and the first time since 2011. Listed below are those six memories, with the coach and result listed.
UH Hilo NCAA Postseason History
1994 (Sharon Peterson) L to Portland State (3-2)
1995 (Sharon Peterson) W vs. Regis CO (3-1), L to Nebraska-Kearney (3-2)
1997 (Sharon Peterson) L to Regis (3-2)
2009 (Bruce Atkinson) L to Alaska Anchorage (3-2)
2011 (Tino Reyes) L to Sonoma State (3-1)
 
Other History: Prior to UH Hilo's move to the NCAA in the mid 1990's, the Vulcans won seven national volleyball championships at the NAIA or AIAW levels under Hall of Fame coach Sharon Peterson.

Fall Recap: The Vulcans, under interim head coach Chris Leonard, began the year with three wins at the Hawaii Challenge and a split of four matches at the D2 West Region Showcase. Then, in what could have broke many teams, UHH dropped their first two PacWest matches of the year, at home, to Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade. Sitting at 5-5, the season was on the brink, so to speak. Leonard's team answered with the call with 12 consecutive wins, including a 5-set thriller over eventual PacWest champ Azusa Pacific. The Vulcans would then win six of their final eight contests to claim second place in the PacWest (18-4) and soon thereafter the seventh seed in the regional tournament.
 
Vulcan Trio: Three UH Hilo players were named to the All-Pacific West Conference team last week. Junior outside hitter Bria Beale and freshman middle blocker Emily Wade were named to the First Team, while freshman setter Kendall Kott earned Second Team honors.
 
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 squad, 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.
 
PacWest Leadership: Individual leaders on the PacWest stat board include…
*Bria Beale—1st in kills (424), 1st in points (483)
*Kendall Kott—1^st in assists per set (10.70)
*Emily Wade—2nd in blocks (1.24), 6^th in hitting % (.338)
*Kaila Lizama—5th in digs (4.92)
 
Going the Distance: The Vulcans have played nine 5-set matches this year, including the marathon earlier this year against Western Washington. UH Hilo is 6-3 in those matches, having won their last three 5-setters.
 
Last Time: The last time the Vikings and Vulcans met on Sept. 14 in Pomona, WWU was ranked No. 3 in the country and was coming off a national championship appearance the year before. The Vulcans were a team that was picked to finish fifth in their conference preseason coaches poll. But the upset-minded Vulcans gave the defending GNAC and west region champs all that they could handle in the 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 15-10 battle. Roaring back from two sets down, the Vikings pulled away from the Vulcans in the fifth at 9-8, scoring the final three points for the win. UH Hilo had five players with double-figure kill totals, led by Amber Tai's 17. Kayleigh Harper had 23 kills to lead the Vikings.
 
Viking Verbiage: The No. 4 nationally ranked Vikings began the year on a 17-match winning streak before dropping a four-setter to Alaska Anchorage. In fact, in compiling a 26-2 record in 2019, WWU's only two losses were to the Seawolves, who also topped them in five sets in Bellingham. Everything else all season went swimmingly for the Vikings, including the announcement of the Great Northwest Athletic Conference awards. Kayleigh Harper was named the GNAC Player of the Year, Calley Heilborn was the Freshman of the Year, and four other players also grabbed All-GNAC honors—Gabby Gunterman, Malia Aleaga, Chloe Roetcisoender and Mae Thungc. The head coach for the Vikings is Diane Flick-Williams, who is in her 20^th season on the Bellingham campus, with a career mark of 450-109. The Vikings have made eight consecutive NCAA tournament appearances. Last year, WWU topped No. 1 seed Cal State San Bernardino in the regional final in five sets, and would go on to reach the national title game, falling to Tampa in five sets.

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).