by POMONA, Calif.—Bria Beale pounded out 19 kills and had 23 digs as the UH Hilo Vulcans evened up their Friday results by topping Seattle Pacific in four sets, 25-16, 27-29, 25-20, 26-24.
The Vulcans split matches on their first day at the D2 West Region Showcase, hosted at Cal Poly Pomona’s Kellogg Arena. They are now 4-2 overall, while Seattle Pacific is 2-5.
Beale’s kill total was just one off her career best of 20, and her 23 digs surpassed her previous career high of 20, set last year as a sophomore. Emily Wade added 13 kills and six block assists, while Amber Tai had 12 kills.
Freshman setter Kendall Kott had a career-high 52 assists to help the Vulcans to 61 kills in the four-set match. On defense, Kaila Lizama joined Beale with 23 digs.
The early evening match against Seattle Pacific of the GNAC was a lot like UH Hilo’s earlier match of the day, a 3-1 loss to Cal State Monterey Bay—except this one ended up in the Vulcans’ win column.
Just a few hours after dropping a tight and tough four-setter to the Otters, the Vulcans came out of the gates against the Falcons on fire. They jumped out to 5-1 and 11-6 leads, never trailing in the set. They would go on to hit a sizzling .344 in the game with Tai leading the way with six kills.
In what would be a wild second set, Seattle Pacific took control early. They built a 17-11 lead and still held a 20-17 margin before the Vulcans swarmed back. A Tai block cut the Falcon lead to one (22-21), but SPU got to a pair of set points (24-22) moments later. Again, UHH rallied back and tied the match twice at 24-24 and 25-25, each time on Beale kills. The Vulcans took their first lead of the set (26-25) on yet another Beale put-away, and then again (Beale) at 27-26. But the Falcons scored the last three points to take the set (29-27).
The Vulcans led from nearly start to finish in the third set, taking a 21-16 lead on a Kott ace. They took a 2-1 set lead with Alexandria Parisian’s (Chippewa/Cree) finisher (25-20). It was then the Falcons’ turn to lead for most of the fourth set, including a 23-19 margin that put them just two points away from sending the match to a decisive fifth set.
But again, the Vulcans fought back. Two kills by Beale and a block tied the match at 23-23. SPU got to set point (24-23), but a Parisian kill tied it at 24-24. Another Parisian put-away gave UHH the lead at 25-24, and a Beale dig and Ashton Jessee spike finished the comeback and the match.
The Vulcans hit .269 for the match, had 85 digs and 22 blocks. Maddie Batiste led the Falcons with 20 kills.
