(photo courtesy of Hawaii Media Source)
HONOLULU, Oahu--It was just one match but it was a big one with a very, very positive outcome for visiting UH Hilo.
The Vulcans and host Chaminade, two of the favorites to battle for the Pacific West Conference title, went toe-to-toe on Saturday afternoon at McCabe Gymnasium with the Vulcans ultimately taking a 25-21, 25-21, 20-25, 25-23 volleyball win.
UH Hilo is now 1-0 to start the conference season and Chaminade is 1-1. The Vulcans are 4-1 overall. No. 21 nationally ranked Chaminade saw their five-match winning streak come to a close, now 11-3 overall.
The Vulcans stay in Honolulu to take on Hawaii Pacific on Sunday (2 pm). The Sharks lost in four sets to Chaminade on Friday night.
Bria Beale led a balanced UHH score sheet wtih 17 kills, 17 digs and a .378 attack percentage.
Alexandria Parisian added 11 kills, 12 digs and four service aces. Middle blocker
Sydney Gott and
Ashton Jessee had nine kills each and Jessee also had seven block assists.
Tani Hoke led the Vulcans with 20 digs,
Kendall Kott had 39 assists and 11 digs and
Nicole Schmitz had seven kills and 11 digs.Â
The visitors controlled the net with a 19-5 block advantage. Chaminade had three players in double figures, paced by Annah Rivera with 14. The 'Swords played without their leading kill-maker on the season Brooklyn Pe`a, who also sat out the match against Hawaii Pacific.
The Vulcans came out firing on all cylinders in the first set. They hit .310 for the set and had five blocks to take the 25-21 verdict. They went up 2-0 by edging the Silverswords in the second set by the same score.
In the third set, the two teams traded blows early before the 'Swords inched ahead in the must-win set. They took a 16-12 lead, bumped it to 19-14 and to 20-16. The Vulcans pulled to within two points (21-19) after an Jessee kill, but Chaminade scored four of the next five points to stay alive, 25-20. The home team hit an accurate .343 in the set to pull within a game (2-1).
The 'Swords carried that momentum into the fourth set, rushing out to a 4-0 lead and soon pushing the margin to 6-1. The Vulcans began to climb back with three consecutive points and then finally pulled even at 9-9 on a Parisian ace. A Chaminade attack error gave them their first lead of the set at 10-9. After another Parisian ace, the Vulcans had scored six straight points to take a 12-9 lead.
Gott had three more kills as the Vulcans tried to keep the 'Swords at arms length. But Chaminade scored three straight to pull to within a point at 19-18. An error and an ace by Beale put UHH back up three points (21-18). Kills by Gott and Parisian made it 23-20, but back-to-back tallies by Chaminade made it a one-point game again, 23-22. UHH was finally able to close the door with a kill by Schmitz and Beale ended the afternoon with a kill off the block to make it 25-23.
After playing each other seven times last spring and opening PacWest play in 2021, the Vulcans and Silverswords will now wait until November 19 to face off again, this time in Hilo.
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