HONOLULU, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Volleyball closed out its non-conference slate with a 3-1 trip back to O'ahu for the Aloha State Showdown, notching wins over Central Washington (3-0), UC Merced (3-0) and Florida Tech (3-1).
The Vulcans started the weekend with consecutive sweeps over Central Washington and UC Merced before falling to Western Washington in four sets. The match was seemingly on the way to five sets after holding a 23-19 lead in Set 4, but the Vikings managed to grab eight of the next 11 points to close out the win.
Hawai'i Hilo came right back to close out the weekend with a four-set win over Florida Tech. The Vulcans stood strong in the opening set facing a similar situation of holding a 23-18 lead as the Panthers managed to tie the score at 24-all, but kills by Alohi Garcia and Isabella Hadaller put any worries to bed.
The Vulcans will have their first two home matches of the season on tap this coming week against Fresno Pacific (Sept. 18) and Dominican (Sept. 20) in the Vulcan Gymnasium with first serves at 7 p.m.
ALOHA STATE SHOWDOWN
- Western Washington: 4-0 Record
- Hawai'i Hilo: 3-1 Record
- Chaminade: 2-2 Record
- HPU: 2-2 Record
- Central Washington: 2-2 Record
- Florida Tech: 2-2 Record
- UC Merced: 0-4 Record
ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM
- MVP: Delany Speer, Western Washington
- Best Setter: Emerson Reinke, Hawai'i Hilo
- Best Libero: Kari Voelstad Bogen, Florida Tech
- Delany Speer, Western Washington
- Alohi Garcia, Hawai'i Hilo
- Malu Garcia, Hawai'i Hilo
- Cordelia Kearns, Florida Tech
- Devyn Oestreich, Western Washington
- Corinne Westby, Central Washington
OTHER NOTES
- Emerson Reinke Program All-Time Career Rank: No. 3 Assists – 2,744
- Reinke surpassed Hae Ja Kim (1988-1991) and is now just 89 away from Sienna Davis (1992-1995) and 91 from Kendall Kott (2019-2022) in the No. 2 and No. 3 spots, respectively.
- Isabella Hadaller Season High: 17 Kills vs Florida Tech
- Although previously referred to as the non-conference slate (in the traditional sense), this year's Pacific West Conference season will have both contests that count and don't count toward a team's conference record. Each team will have 12 countable contests.
- Hawai'i Hilo: 7-4 Overall (0-0 PacWest)
UP NEXT
- Thursday, Sept. 18 (7 PM) vs Fresno Pacific (Vulcan Gym)
- Saturday, Sept. 20 (7 PM) vs Dominican (Vulcan Gym)
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.
INTER-ISLAND SHOWDOWN
Following the Vulcans' Oct. 4 match against Chaminade at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium, the University of Hawai'i at Manoa Men's Volleyball team will hold an intrasquad scrimmage. The team will also hold a photo session opportunity earlier in the day at Big Island Candies.
