FRESNO, California – With two teams no strangers to five-set matches, their head-to-head matchup was bound to go the distance as well. The Hawai'i Hilo Women's Volleyball team opened its Northern California trip with a battle against Fresno Pacific, falling just short in five sets (25-20, 23-25, 14-25, 25-20, 13-25) in Pacific West Conference action Wednesday evening at the Special Events Center.
The Vulcans jumped out to a 6-1 lead early in the deciding set, but the Sunbirds managed to inch their way back to tie the score at 13-13 before taking the victory with the final two points.
It was a battle from the start for the Vulcans, falling behind big in the opening set before rallying for six straight points to make it a 16-16 score. After trading a few points, Hawai'i Hilo rattled off five consecutive points to close it out, highlighted by three aces in a row from Kamryn Childs.
The Vulcans put down four blocks and just five kills in Set 1 as the Sunbirds committed a total of 15 errors.
Set 2 saw the Vulcans holding a narrow lead through the latter half of the frame, but FPU strung together five consecutive points — four of them on Hawai'i Hilo errors — to gain momentum. After a tie at 23, the Sunbirds closed out the win with a block and a kill to even the match.
Fresno Pacific seemingly carried that momentum over to Set 3. Despite Hawai'i Hilo opening to a 4-0 lead, the Sunbirds scored 11 of the next 12 points and never looked back as they hit .400.
With the match on the line, the Vulcans' Samara Cruz and Chase Koepke each put down five kills in the fourth set to help fuel a five-point run to pull away from an 11-11 score. The Vulcans later put away five of the last six points to force Set 5.
STATS SHEET
- Samara Cruz led with a season-high 16 kills (.350) as Chase Koepke added nine (.412) to go along with five total blocks. Taylor Tullo also totaled nine kills and had 11 digs.
- The Sunbirds doubled up the Vulcans in service aces, 14-7. Catie Speas, McKenna Hughes and Cambria Waites each had three while Corinne Acosta led with four.
UP NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo moved to 5-8 overall (2-3 PacWest) while Fresno Pacific moved to 7-6 (4-1 PacWest).
The Vulcans will continue in Northern California and be right back in action Thursday evening against Dominican before finishing the road trip against Academy of Art on Saturday.
Hawai'i Hilo will then return home for four games starting Oct. 14 against two-time defending champion Chaminade.
ONLINE TICKETS
Single-game and season tickets are now available to be purchased online through Hawai'i Hilo Vulcans Athletics' recently launched online ticket platform in partnership with AudienceView Campus.
The 2023 slate will feature 10 total home matches at the Vulcan Gymnasium with a package price of $75 for adults and $40 for seniors (ages 65-plus) and middle/high school students.
Both can be accessed at HiloAthletics.com/tickets.
