(Photo of Tani Hoke and the Vulcan defense courtesy of Hawaii Media Source)

Familiar places, familiar sights, and very familiar teams await the University of Hawai`i Hilo Vulcan volleyball team this weekend when they open up Pacific West Conference play.

The Vulcans, 3-1 after the Hawai`i Challenge tournament at Chaminade last weekend, will head right back to McCabe Gymnasium on Saturday to play the red-shot Silverswords before facing Hawai`i Pacific on Sunday. Saturday's match is at 3 pm, Sunday's is set for 2 pm. No fans are allowed inside McCabe or the Shark Tank, but both encounters will be available on video stream (link to Live Stats and Video).

Sensational in the Spring: The Vulcans faced the Silverswords and Sharks seven times each during the pandemic spring season, and were an astounding 6-1 against Chaminade and 7-0 versus HPU. The Vulcans also split a pair of matches against Alaska Anchorage, making them 14-2 during the short campaign. Most of that squad returns to the court for head coach Chris Leonard, along with two outstanding transfers and two freshmen.

Chaminade Clippings: The Chaminade team that the Vulcans saw last spring, which was a very good squad, is much better this Fall. They lost four key pieces to graduation, but replaced them with four Division I transfers. Additionally, they return OH Brooklen Pe'a (Sr.), OH Annah Rivera (Jr.), and MB Lataisia Saulala (Sr.). They come into the match heavily seasoned with a dozen matches under their belts already, and with a 10-2 record, ranked No. 21 nationally. Their only losses were to Alaska Anchorage (whom they split with) and then-No. 14 nationally ranked Western Washington, They have a win to their credit over No. 6 Metro State-Denver. They won all four matches last weekend at their own Hawaii Challenge to head into their match with HPU on Friday night red hot. The all-time series is deep between the Vulcans and Silverswords, with UH Hilo holding a 77-40 margin.

Shark Sentences: Hawai`i Pacific (1-7) is off to a slow start, albeit in part to playing in a tough pair of opening tournaments. They have a five-set win to their credit over Western Oregon and losses to teams from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference, including No. 20 Simon Fraser. The Sharks return four starters in Kirah Boynton-Brown (MH, Sr.), Nicole Ferris (MH, Sr.), Cara McClean (S, Sr.), and Makayla Warthan (L, So.). The Sharks host Chaminade on Friday night before seeing the Vulcans on Saturday. UH Hilo leads the all-time series between the two squads at 79-59.

Vulcans Rise to the Challenge: UH Hilo brushed off a season opening loss to Saint Martin's to win three straight at last weekend's Hawai`i Challenge at Chaminade. UH Hilo topped Cal State East Bay, got revenge on St. Martins and defeated Montana State-Billings, all in three sets. 

Stat Sheet: The Vulcans had offensive fire power from balanced sources this past weekend. Five players had 30 kills or more including outside hitter Bria Beale (43) and Nicole Schmitz (31), opposite side hitter Alexandria Parisian (36) and middle blockers Ashton Jessee (32) and Sydney Gott (30). Setter Kendall Kott is the feeder, averaging 11.38 assists per set. The Vulcans have 23 aces, led by Beale's seven and Tani Hoke's five. Hoke paces the team with 5.46 digs per set while Jessee (8) and Gott (7) patrol the net in total blocks.

What's Next: The Vulcans will take their third road trip of the season with four matches in northern California, Sept. 27 to Oct. 2, They return to Hilo for their first home matches of the season, four in all, beginning with a Oct. 6 match-up with PacWest title contender Biola.

The Coach: Chris Leonard begins his third season at the helm of the Vulcan program in the Fall of 2021. After serving five seasons as the UHH lead assistant, Leonard took over the program in 2019 and promptly led his team to the NCAA playoffs with a 23-8 record. After going 14-2 last spring and 3-1 in the 2021 opening weekend, Leonard is now 40-11 as the Vulcan leader.

FULL VULCAN SCHEDULE

2021 VULCAN ROSTER

2021 VULCAN STATISTICS