Box Score (photo courtesy of Jay Metz and Hawai`i Media Source)

HONOLULU, Oahu--UH Hilo rolled through an easy first set of 2021 but nothing was easy after that in falling to Saint Martin's at the Hawai`i Challenge at McCabe Gymnasium.

The Vulcans fell in four sets to the red-hot Saints, who improved to 5-0 on the year with the victory. They are 0-1 after the 13-25, 29-27, 25-18, 25-15 loss, but can still get their first victory of the year before the day is out when they play Cal State East Bay at 7 pm HT tonight on the Chaminade campus.

UHH newcomer Nicole Schmitz (Univ. of Jamestown) led the Vulcans with 15 kills and 19 digs. But the Vulcans hit .091 on the night and were out-blocked 14-6.

It was all fun and games in the opening set as the Vulcans blitzed the Saints, 25-13. Five different players had kills for UHH and they never trailed after bolting out to a 5-1 lead.

The second set was a war with numerous lead changes. The Vulcans trailed 24-23 before back-to-back kills by Schmitz gave them a set point, but SMU stayed alive with a kill by Tia Allen, who would go on to finish the match with 16 kills. The set was tied at 25-25, 26-26, and 27-27 before an attack error and an Allen putaway gave the Saints the 29-27 win. SMU had a total of 20 kills in the set.

The third set began as a tug-a-war before St. Martin's scored five straight points at 7-7. They wouldn't trail again on their way to winning 25-18. UHH built a 5-1 lead in the fourth, but the Washington school rallied back, scoring eight straight points at one juncture to take a 15-10 lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

After tonight's match with Cal State East Bay, the Vulcans will get a chance for revenge on Saturday with another match against St. Martin's at 4 pm.