HONOLULU, Hawai'i – Hawai'i Hilo Women's Volleyball took a trip over to O'ahu and went 3-1 in four matches as part of the Hawai'i Challenge co-hosted by Chaminade and HPU. The Vulcans defeated Cal State East Bay (3-1), Cal Poly Humboldt (3-0) and St. Mary's (3-2) before falling to Cal State LA (0-3) to close the weekend.

The tandem of Malu Garcia and Alohi Garcia led the offensive attack for the Vulcans, totaling 55 and 48 kills, respectively, through the weekend slate. The duo helped power Hawai'i Hilo to victory over St. Mary's in a five-set thriller — helping break an even 17-17 Set-4 score by combining to put down seven of eight consecutive Vulcans points to close out the set win. Malu Garcia then closed out the match by getting kills on four of the Vulcans' final five points.

Emerson Reinke racked up 144 total assists (2,583 career total) to inch closer toward Hae Ja Kim (1988-1991) at the No. 3 spot in the program record books. Reinke also came up with a career-high 22 digs in the five-set victory over St. Mary's.

OTHER NOTES

• Hawai'i Hilo Women's Volleyball, now in its 48th official season, surpassed the 800-wins mark (801-491) with Friday's victory over Cal Poly Humboldt.
• Hawai'i Hilo: 4-3 Overall (0-0 PacWest)

Hawai'i Challenge

• Colorado Colorado Springs: 4-0 Record
• Cal State LA: 3-1 Record
• Hawai'i Hilo: 3-1 Record
• Chaminade: 2-2 Record
• HPU: 2-2 Record
• St. Mary's: 1-3 Record
• Cal State East Bay: 1-3 Record
• Cal Poly Humboldt: 0-4 Record

ALL-TOURNAMENT TEAM

MVP: Ayjah Landers, Cal State LA
Best Setter: Maylen Mitrovich, UCCS
Libero: Alyssa Koehl, St. Mary's

Ayjah Landers, Cal State LA
Payton Tompkins, UCCS
Laurene Robinson, St. Mary's
Samarah DaCoud, Cal State LA
Nicole Martin, UCCS
Malu Garcia, Hawai'i Hilo

UP NEXT

Aloha State Showdown

• Thursday, Sept. 11 (NOON) vs Central Washington (Honolulu, Hawai'i (O'ahu) / The Shark Tank at HPU)
• Friday, Sept. 12 (10 AM) vs UC Merced (Honolulu, Hawai'i (O'ahu) / The Shark Tank at HPU)
• Friday, Sept. 12 (3 PM) vs Western Washington (Honolulu, Hawai'i (O'ahu) / The Shark Tank at HPU)
• Saturday, Sept. 13 (3 PM) vs Florida Tech (Honolulu, Hawai'i (O'ahu) / McCabe Gymnasium at Chaminade)

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.