(Photo courtesy of Joe Poellot/UHH.)
HILO, Hawai'i-- The Vulcans came together for a solid 25-21, 25-17, 25-16 win over Holy Names. Everyone got a piece of the action in an overall great team win, including sophomore Mia Takai and freshman Nicole Logan who made their first appearances of the 2021 season.
"It was nice to be able to get everyone in tonight, but more importantly it was nice to get everyone in and see them get some great touches," said head coach Chris Leonard. "We are a pretty deep team and the challenge sometimes is to get everyone on the floor. But when we do get them to the floor they step up and play well."
UHH improves 12-2 and 9-1 in the PacWest while HNU falls 5-14 and 2-9 in the PacWest.
Several big hitters contributed to UH Hilo's 25-21, 25-17, 25-16 win including Bria Beale leading UHH with 19 kills, Samara Cruz with 10, Kamilla Marinas with seven, and Sydney Gott with five.
The Vulcans started the first set off slow, but were able to find their groove in the 25-21 win. The Hawks were on a run with two service aces and a kill when Vulcan head coach Leonard called for a timeout. After Leonard's timeout, the Red and Black caught up to the Hawks and proceeded to go back and forth with them for points. At 20-20, UHH was finally able to break away. Beale had an excellently placed shot to the front of the court followed by a soft tip by Kendall Kott to make the score 22-20. The Hawks were able to get in one more point before Beale found her openings, hammering in two hard kills to close out the first set.
The Vulcans continued to ride their first-set high into the second. UH Hilo began the second set by taking off on a four-point run in an eventual 25-17 win. Beale was all over the court and successful in catching the Hawks defense off guard. She was versatile, balancing her power with strategic placement. Beale was able to nail the back corner and then come around and efficiently tip the ball into open holes. Marinas also got her share of kills in, spreading out the Vulcans' attack.
UH Hilo ended the night with a 25-16 win, where several players contributed with big plays. Marinas had back-to-back kills to put UHH up 4-1. Ashton Jessee and Marinas teamed up for a nice block which brought the Vulcans to 12-2. Gott had a big swing to move UH Hilo up 19-9. Amber Tai had her moment with a nice kill, bringing UHH to 21-15. And Freshman Chole Culanding sealed the deal with a service ace to close the set and match.
The Vulcans totaled 18 block assists, the leaders were Jessee and Imeleta Ale with four apiece and Cruz with three. Kott dominated assists on the court with 37 and Tani Hoke led her team with 18 digs.
UHH will travel to Southern California next to face Concordia Irvine, Point Loma, Azusa Pacific, and Biola. The Vulcan's first game of their SoCal road trip is Monday, Oct. 25 at 7 p.m. against CUI.
"It was nice to close out a great home stand for us," concluded Leonard. "This was our last game of this home stand and it was nice to get all of them. We had to face some adversity and challenges, losing some players do to injury and protocol, but we find ways to get it done every night."
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