SAN DIEGO, Calif. – The Vulcans gave the Sea Lions a run for their money but ultimately came up short as the Hawai'i Hilo women's volleyball team fell to Point Loma Nazarene, 3-1, Wednesday evening in Pacific West Conference play at the Golden Gymnasium.
UH Hilo went toe to toe with one of the top teams in the conference and opened with an early four-point lead before battling back and forth to 13 ties in the first set. With the score at 22-22, the Vulcans took a short-lived lead off a Kamryn Childs (Syracuse, Utah/Syracuse HS) kill, but two attack errors and a PLNU-kill later gave the Sea Lions the narrow win in the opening frame.
Point Loma took control for a 25-18 win in set No. 2 then looked to run away with the sweep after a six-point streak led to a 19-11 lead in the third set. But the Vulcans pulled it together and rallied to finish out with seven-straight scores for the come-back win at 25-23.
Set No. 4 was almost deja vu as PLNU again seemed primed to close out the match with a 22-15 lead, but kills by Emerson Reinke (Arvada, Colo./Ralston Valley HS), Nikki Logan (Huntington Beach, Calif./Edison HS) and Kamryn Childs (Syracuse, Utah/Syracuse HS) sparked a four-score rally until the Sea Lions were able to close out the set and match for the win.
Despite the score difference, both teams were pretty even across the board in the numbers, but the two biggest differences were PLNU having a 11-3 advantage in blocks and the Vulcans committing 14 service errors.
Childs again led Hawai'i Hilo with 16 kills to go along with three aces and one block.
The Vulcans posted 75 digs with Samara Cruz (Escondido, Calif./Escondido HS) (10), Reinke (11), Tani Hoke (Kailua, Hawai'i/Maryknoll School) (20), Mahina Kenoi (Hilo, Hawai'i/Kamehameha Schools Hawai'i) (14) and Maile Goss (San Diego, Calif./San Marcos HS) (10) each coming up with double-digit figures.
What's Next
Hawai'i Hilo fell to 1-11 overall, 1-5 PacWest with a current ninth-place standing in the conference while Point Loma Nazarene improved to 6-0 in the PacWest with a tie atop the standings.
The Vulcans will have a quick turnaround with a match tomorrow against Biola (4-3 PacWest).
The Sea Lions will host Chaminade Friday night in a battle of unbeaten teams in conference play.
