HILO, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Volleyball split a pair of inter-island matchups over the weekend, falling to Chaminade in a thrilling five setter (16-26, 25-20, 24-26, 25-20, 15-8) Saturday afternoon in Pacific West Conference action in front of a near-capacity Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium before sweeping HPU (25-19, 25-18, 25-13) Sunday afternoon in non-conference play at the Vulcan Gymnasium.

After splitting the first two sets against Chaminade on Saturday, the Vulcans held a slight edge on the scoreboard late in Set 3, but the Silverswords managed to flip the script by taking five of the final six points to crawl back from a 23-21 deficit. 

Facing a 2-1 set deficit and a four-point hole at a 16-12 score, the Vulcans rumbled back with six straight points to turn the tide on the defending PacWest Champions and ride out to a 25-20 win to force a deciding fifth frame. With just a two-point differential midway through Set 5, the Silverswords managed to close out the win by taking eight of the final 11 points.

Against HPU, the Vulcans were just too hot to handle as they pulled away on the scoreboard in the latter half of each set for the sweep.

OTHER NOTES

• Chase Koepke put down six of her 11 total kills (.857 attack percentage with zero errors) against Chaminade during the fourth set.
• Hawai'i Hilo: 11-7 Overall (1-2 PacWest)
• Chaminade: 11-7 Overall (5-0 PacWest)
• HPU: 4-13 Overall (0-2 PacWest)
• Hawai'i Hilo has played eight matches against PacWest Conference schools but because of a tweak to this season's schedule, only three of those contests have counted toward the actual league standings. Nine of the Vulcans' 10 remaining games will all be countable contests.
• The Vulcans earned two points in the volleyball race for the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge — a points-system competition between the three Hawai'i Division II schools.  Hawai'i Hilo and HPU shared winning honors for 2024-25.
• Mahalo to HFS Federal Credit Union for supporting Saturday's gameday. Fans were treated to giveaways, raffle prizes and a hula hoop contest.

UP NEXT

• Wednesday, Oct. 8 (7 PM) vs Azusa Pacific (Vulcan Gym)
• Thursday, Oct. 9 (7 PM) vs Vanguard (Vulcan Gym)
• Friday, Oct. 17 (6 PM) vs Chaminade (Honolulu, HI)
• Saturday, Oct. 18 (3 PM) vs HPU (Honolulu, HI)
• Friday, Oct. 24 (7 PM) vs Concordia (Vulcan Gym)
• Saturday, Oct. 25 (7 PM) vs Westmont (Vulcan Gym)

INTERISLAND SHOWCASE

Following Saturday's match, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa Men's Volleyball team held an intrasquad scrimmage in front of a packed Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium for Big Island fans to enjoy. Earlier in the day, the Rainbow Warriors were posted up at Big Island Candies for a photo op session. Mahalo to Big Island Candies, Hawaiian Airlines and Hilo Hawaiian Hotel for their support.

VULCAN CHALLENGE

Support Hawai'i Hilo Athletics and its student-athletes across 12 sports teams by considering a donation toward our Vulcan Challenge annual fundraiser, running Sept. 16 - Oct. 16. Your generous gift directly supports scholarships, nutritional needs, performance improvement, team apparel, equipment and much more. Support at HiloAthletics.com/VC.

PACWEST PRESEASON POLL

Hawai'i Hilo was voted No. 4 in the Pacific West Conference Preseason Coaches Poll released earlier this week. The Vulcans finished 2024 in a four-way tie for fourth place. 2025 will feature the inaugural four-team PacWest Conference Championships postseason tournament hosted by Chaminade on O'ahu (Nov. 20-21).

PURCHASE TICKETS

Season and individual tickets for the Vulcans' nine home matches this fall are available for purchase at HiloAthletics.com/tickets. New pricing tiers have been introduced for preferred and general seating. In 2024, Hawai'i Hilo ranked No. 3 in all of Division II for venue percent capacity attendance at the on-campus Vulcan Gym.

BUY LIVESTREAM PACKAGE

Video livestreaming will be available for all home events this season through the PacWest Network, powered by Hudl TV. More information is available at HiloAthletics.com/livestream. Single-game passes are offered at $15 with a season-package price of $101.25.