This Week in Vulcan Volleyball
Record: 5-5 (0-2 PWC)

PacWest Conference Road Trip, Northern California                                         
Saturday, Sept. 28 @Dominican (1-7/1-2 PWC), San Rafael, CA, 7 pm PT
Monday, Sept. 30 @Fresno Pacific (1-11/1-3 PWC), Fresno, CA, 6 pm PT
Wednesday, Oct. 2 @Holy Names (2-7/1-2 PWC), Oakland, CA, 7 pm PT
Thursday, Oct. 3 @Academy of Art (4-6/2-1 PWC), San Francisco, CA, 7 pm PT
Saturday, Oct. 5 @Notre Dame de Namur (2-8/1-2 PWC), Belmont, CA, 7 pm PT
 
Long Road Traveled: The Vulcans embark on their longest road trip of the year, taking on five Pacific West Conference foes over the span of eight days. UH Hilo will be all over the bay area and down to Fresno as they try to get back on track after a rough start to their PacWest season at home against rivals Chaminade and Hawaii Pacific.
 
Everything Except…..: UH Hilo's highly anticipated home opener against Chaminade lived up to the billing. It had everything—large crowd, terrific volleyball and breathless suspense. For Vulcan fans, the only thing missing was the win as the Silverswords scored the final four points of the match to walk away with a 21-25, 25-20, 25-22, 20-25, 15-11 victory. Two teams that were evenly matched had almost identical numbers on the night, with the Vulcans holding a slight edge in digs (54-53) and blocks (13-12), while Chaminade had more kills (57-51). The rematch is set for November 3 in Honolulu.
 
Crowd Pleasing: The announced crowd for the match was 877 fans, with just a few seats left unoccupied. It was the largest crowd for a UH Hilo home volleyball match since the 2009 season, when 1,000 fans overflowed Vulcan Gymnasium for the regular season finale versus Hawaii Pacific.
 
Shark Bait: UH Hilo's match the following night against Hawaii Pacific could have been labeled a "trap match". The Sharks, a strong team, but not listed as a conference title contenders like Chaminade, took the floor against the Vulcans less than 24 hours after the emotional marathon. And they took the Vulcans out in four sets, 25-20, 25-19, 10-25, 25-19 behind the 19 kills from Cameryn Collie. The Vulcans were out-dug in the match (57-46) and the Sharks had 58 kills to UH Hilo's 41.
 
Vulcans Showcase their Talents: The previous weekend at the D2 West Region Showcase in Pomona, Calif., the Vulcans went 2-2—but it was one of their losses that was perhaps the most impressive. The Vulcans took unbeaten and (now) No. 2 nationally ranked Western Washington to five sets before falling, 23-25, 25-23, 23-25, 25-19, 15-10. The Vulcan had a 2-1 set lead, and a 14-11 margin in the fourth set before the champion Vikings crawled back. Western Washington, who won the west region championship last year and got all the way to the NCAA championship match (falling in five sets to Tampa), is now 11-0 on the season.
 
Chris quotes: "Against Chaminade, it was great match that could have gone either way," said head coach Chris Leonard. "They edged us in the areas of serving and passing. Credit to them, good teams find a way to beat you and they did just that at the end of the match. Against HPU, we didn't come out ready to play and we paid the price. But I still firmly believe that we can compete with anyone in the conference. We just have to execute a whole lot better."
 
By the Numbers: As promised by Leonard in the preseason, the Vulcan offensive attack has been balanced. Junior Bria Beale had a total of 121 kills to lead the way, including 19 in the Seattle Pacific win. Right behind her is Amber Tai (99), who had a career-best 17 kills against Western Washington. Alexandria Parisian had 90 kills and Emily Wade has 84. Kendall Kott leads the way with an even 400 assists and Kaila Lizama paces the Vulcans with 167 digs. Wade had 42 assisted blocks and Ashton Jessee has 40.
 
Aces Wild: The Vulcans have zipped in 65 service aces in ten matches, including 13 against Chico State. Eight different Vulcans have aces, led by Amber Tai's 15, Bria Beale's 12 and UHH has 11 each from Alexandria Parisian and Ashton Jessee.
 
PacWest and NCAA Road Blocks: The Vulcans lead the PacWest in blocks, and it is not close. UH Hilo has 172 block assists and 100.0 total, or an average of 2.50 per set. Next closest is Point Loma with 104 block assists and 64 total. The Vulcans also rank third in the country (NCAA) in that category. Emily Wade and Ashton Jessee go 1-2 individually in the PWC statistical listing.
 
PacWest Leadership: Individual leaders on the PacWest stat board include…
*Bria Beale—6^th in kills per set (3.03), 3^rd in points (3.58)
*Kendall Kott—1^st in assists per set (10.00)
*Ashton Jessee—2^nd in blocks (1.08)
*Emily Wade—1st in blocks (1.20)
*Kaila Lizama—7^th in digs (4.18)
 
Northern California Roadwork: The Vulcans hope to get back on track with five matches against the northern California portion of the PacWest. The geographical portion of the conference is off to a slow start, but that means little once PacWest play begins.
*Dominican: 1-2 in PWC, with 3-1 win over FPU. UHH won both last year, lead all-time 13-5.
*Fresno Pacific: 1-3 PWC, 3-0 win over NDNU. Makena Ogas 3.11 kpg. UHH won both last year, but FPU leads all-time 9-7.
*Holy Names: 1-2 PWC, win over Dominican. Tiff Wong 3.05 kpg. UHH has won four in a row, lead all-time 11-1.
*Academy of Art: 2-1 PWC, wins over NDNU and Concordia. Ashley Pawlak 3.0 kpg. UHH has won three in a row, lead all-time 12-3.
*Notre Dame de Namur: 1-2 PWC, win over Dominican. UHH has won last two, lead all-time 16-7.
 
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).