HILO, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Volleyball wrapped up regular-season play with a 3-0 sweep of Menlo (25-11, 25-14, 28-26) on Wednesday evening in Pacific West Conference play at the Vulcan Gymnasium.
Isabella Hadaller put down five solo blocks with three block assists to help lead the Vulcans to match a season high of 14 total blocks.
The Vulcans hit .323 and .483 in the first and second sets, respectively. Alohi Garcia led with 10 points (.364).
Set 3 saw the Vulcans dig out of a five-point hole with the Oaks leading late at a 23-19 score, but the home team rallied back to put the match away in straight sets.
Due to other games around the league earlier in the week, the Vulcans had already clinched the third spot in next week's inaugural four-team PacWest Conference Championships postseason tournament — joining Fresno Pacific (10-0) and Point Loma (9-1). The fourth and final berth will be between defending champion Chaminade (8-3) and Biola (6-4) — Biola holds the head-to-head tiebreaker result if both teams finish the season tied.
Hawai'i Hilo will now have a full week to prepare for postseason play while other teams in the conference still have up to three games left to be wrapped up by the end of this weekend.
It was also Senior Night as the Vulcans' four seniors were recognized and honored following the match: Isabella Aguinaldo, Isabella Hadaller, Imani Lee, Emerson Reinke
GAME NOTES
- Hawai'i Hilo: 20-8 Overall (9-3 PacWest)
- Menlo: 8-15 Overall (3-7 PacWest)
- Eliminated: Jessup (5-5), Concordia (5-5), Vanguard (5-6), Westmont (4-6), Menlo (3-7), Azusa Pacific (3-8), HPU (1-10), Dominican (0-10)
- The Vulcans last reached 20 wins in a season in 2019 when they went 23-8 with an appearance in the NCAA West Regional.
PACWEST CHAMPIONSHIPS
- Thursday, Nov. 20 at Chaminade University of Honolulu
- Semifinal: #1 Seed vs #4 Seed (4:30 PM)
- Semifinal: #2 Seed vs #3 Seed (7:30 PM)
- Friday, Nov. 21 at Chaminade University of Honolulu
BEST AMONG THE WEST
Hawai'i Hilo came in at No. 10 in the latest official NCAA West Region Rankings. PacWest, GNAC and CCAA champions receive automatic bids for the West Regional Round with five more teams selected in order from the final region rankings.
