(Photo of Bria Beale courtesy of Andrew Lee, a Hawai'i Media Source.)
HONOLULU, O'ahu-- After an incredible win against
nationally ranked No. 21 Chaminade, the Vulcans fell just short to Hawai'i Pacific.
After dropping the first two sets to HPU, UH Hilo came back and claimed the next two, forcing a winner-takes-all fifth set. The Vulcans gave an admirable effort, but were unable to take home the win resulting in a 25-22, 25-21, 25-27, 13-25, and 15-13 volleyball loss.
The Sharks and Vulcans are now both 1-1 in conference. Hawai'i Pacific will improve their overall record to 2-8, while the Vulcans drop 4-2.
After falling just behind in the first two sets, the Vulcans pulled off a thrilling 27-25 win in the third. The Sharks began the third set with a decent lead until back-to-back kills by
Kamilla Marinas and
Alexandria Parisian brought the match to a one-point game. The Vulcans continued to fight, chasing a one-point game until a kill by
Bria Beale sparked a three-point rally that put the Vulcans up, 21-19. The Sharks however, refused to let up and came back to tie the match 25-25. Beale, leading the offense, came up big with two consecutive kills that gave the Vulcans the opportunity to fight on.
UHH, amped by their previous win, took their momentum and ran with it in a dominant 25-13 win. Parisian answered back to HPU's first point with a kill. Then Beale landed in two service aces to put the Vulcans up, 3-1. After that, UH Hilo went on to score eight-straight points that gave them a comfortable 10-2 lead. Beale delivered the last kill that gave the Vulcans the 25-13 win.
The fifth set was intense, as both teams fought to hold the lead. The Sharks were the first to break through and ended up running with a five-point rally that was eventually shutdown with a kill by
Samara Cruz. The Vulcans worked to close the gap, but were unable to surpass Hawai'i Pacific resulting in a 13-15 loss.
Beale led the Vulcans offense with 22 kills, followed by Parisian with 14, and Cruz with 12.
Kendall Kott had 56 assists and 14 digs.
Tani Hoke led the defense with 24 digs. Parisian and Marinas had four blocks a piece, followed closely by
Ashton Jessee with three.
The volleyball team will hit the road, playing next against Dominican. The match is set for Sept. 27 at Conlan Center in San Rafael, Calif.
CLICK HERE to view the volleyball team's schedule.
