HONOLULU, Hawai'i – The Vulcans island-hopped over to O'ahu to continue their non-conference slate in the Hawai'i Challenge, splitting Friday's action with a 3-1 win over American International before falling to No. 23 Cal Poly Pomona in straight sets.
In the early-afternoon match, Hawai'i Hilo swung back for a Set-3 comeback and never looked back as it took the victory by scores of 25-19, 22-25, 25-22 and 25-18.
In the nightcap, the Vulcans came out strong but the Broncos came out even stronger as UH Hilo was defeated in a 20-25, 13-25, 16-25 sweep.
"We still have some things to learn about connections with some of the pieces we have. It was nice to be able to get a little deeper in our roster with additional players on the floor who didn't travel with us last week to Alaska," fourth-year Hawai'i Hilo head coach Chris Leonard said.
Hawai'i Hilo moved to a 3-3 record on the season as AIC (NE10 Conference) moved to 0-2 and CPP (CCAA) to 3-0.
GAME 1: AMERICAN INTERNATIONAL 1, HAWAI'I HILO 3
The Vulcans handedly took the opening set, hitting .258 while the Yellow Jackets hit -0.067. Freshman Chase Koepke put down six (.625) of her seven total kills in Set 1. The second set saw AIC turn it around to outhit Hawai'i Hilo, .200 to .161 to even the match.
Momentum seemed to have swung to the Yellow Jackets' side as they jumped out to a 12-5 lead, but that would mark the turning point in the match as the Vulcans heated up quickly to take five of the next six points and continued on to play to four ties through a 22-22 score. Hawai'i Hilo flushed out the set with the next three points for the win.
"Not every game is going to be perfect or clean but just trying to be calm in the moment to work through some things in the moment and gut it out," Leonard said. "We had to dig our way back and it's important for our players to play in these types of situations."
Samara Cruz added five kills and six digs in the fourth set — finishing with totals of 12 and 13, respectively — as the Vulcans nursed an early 13-5 lead all the way to victory.
GAME 2: NO. 23 CAL POLY POMONA 3, HAWAI'I HILO 0
The Vulcans put on a strong performance in the opening set, but the 23rd-ranked team just had a little bit of extra firepower. Hawai'i Hilo came out swinging .361 but it was outdone by Cal Poly Pomona's mark of .381 as the Broncos powered their way to a straight-set sweep.
"We had moments where we looked good, and we had moments where we didn't look as clean," Leonard said. "This Pomona team is really strong; I think as strong of a team as we've seen in the last couple of years. I thought we played really well, but they played better. This helps set the bar for where we want to be later in the year."
Mariah Duke led CPP with 14 kills (.481) and added an ace, flour block assists and six digs.
UP NEXT
Hawai'i Hilo will conclude the Hawai'i Challenge with two matches Saturday against West Virginia State (11 a.m. at Chaminade's McCabe Gymnasium) and Sonoma State (4 p.m. at HPU's The Shark Tank).
WVSU is head coached in her first season by former Hawai'i Hilo two-sport standout Hillary Hurley.
The Vulcans will then have two weeks off before hosting their home opener Sept. 16 against HPU to start the Pacifc West Conference season.
