Tribune-Herald
Tribune-Herald
The record says that progress is being made, but University of Hawaii at Hilo coach Tino Reyes isn’t so sure.
Freshman outside hitter Bria Morgan smacked 19 kills Saturday as the Vulcans swept struggling Notre Dame de Namur 25-19, 25-23, 25-14 in a volleyball match in Belmont, Calif.
Morgan, whose 53 swings were considerably lower than the 91 she took Friday in a win against Academy of Art, was the only player to reach double figures in kills as the Vulcans (4-9, 4-3 Pacific West Conference) improved to 3-1 on a California road trip that wraps up Tuesday at Fresno Pacific.
Despite going above .500 in conference for the first time this season, Reyes saw the effort as a mixed bag. Victories are nice, but he’d rather see what he calls “good volleyball.” The third-year coach didn’t necessarily see that against the Argonauts (1-13, 0-5), who fell into a last-place tie in the conference with Academy of Art.
“We won, but as far as getting better, I wouldn’t say we improved,” Reyes said.
He did have praise for Andi Pickens. The outside hitter has at times been the target of the coach’s criticism, be the freshman is slowing coming along in his view. She registered two kills, five digs and three blocks.
“Andi did some nice things for us,” Reyes said.
UHH sits in seventh in the 14-team PacWest.
Morgan led UHH’s attack once again, hitting .208, slightly below her team’s .240. Senior outside hitter Patty Snel added six kills — including a key point to give the Vuls a 24-23 lead in Game 2 — and 12 digs, and sophomore middle blocker Olivia Lane also had six kills and hit .500. The other freshman in the starting lineup, setter Jolie Au, had 27 assists.
A kill by Morgan gave UHH the lead for good in Game 1 at 19-18, then senior outside hitter Melissa Chavez served out the set with two aces and four attack errors by the Argonauts.
For the second consecutive match, Chavez sparked UHH with her serve and finished with five aces. She had two to start Game 3 as the Vulcans jumped out to a 5-0 lead and ultimately won going away behind .483 hitting in the set.
Sophomore outside hitter Brooke DeMiguel finished with 13 kills to lead the Argonauts, who hit .103.