(photo of Ashton Jessee courtesy of Rick Ogata)

HILO, Hawai`i--With a pair of Hawaii Pod victories under their volleyball belts on Friday, you might not be able to blame the Vulcans if there was a little bit of a hangover on Saturday for their 9 a.m. match with Hawaii Pacific.

Turns out, UH Hilo turned in early on Friday night with plenty of rest and came out swinging on Saturday with a 25-14, 25-21, 25-22 straight sets victory over the Sharks on day two of the PacWest Hawaii Pod #2 tournament. UH Hilo improved to 6-1 during the spring season, while HPU fell to 1-6.

Bria Beale had 15 kills with only three errors (.364). Taira Kaawaloa, Ashton Jessee and Alexandria Parisian added six kills each as the Vulcans hit .294 as a team. Kaawaloa also had 12 digs and Tani Hoke paced the UHH defense with 17 digs.

Demi Winters had ten kills to lead the Sharks.

UH Hilo came out swinging, bolting out to a 10-2 lead in the first set. That lead would increase to 18-6 after a Beale kill, and would go to 24-7 after back-to-back kills by Parisian. The Sharks would then show a sign of things to come with a 7-0 run before the home team closed out the set with a block (25-14).

In the second set, the Vulcans rushed out to a quick lead again (5-0), but HPU came roaring back. The Sharks closed to within a point (9-8) and again at 19-18, but each time UHH would answer. A Hoke ace made it 22-18 and Parisian would put the clamp on the set again with a kill (25-21) to put her team up two sets to none.

In the third, UH Hilo led 5-1 and 12-7 after a Beale kill. UHH led 21-15 late in the set, but again HPU rallied back cutting the lead to one point (23-22). But an error and a Jessee kill ended the set and the match. 

The Vulcans had seven aces in the three sets, two each by Beale and Hoke. Kendall Kott had 31 assists. 

UH Hilo and Chaminade will play in the 7 pm match to wrap up the tournament, with HPU and the Silverswords playing at 1 pm.

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