After missing on multiple opportunities to put away Academy of Art in a first-set loss Thursday at home, UH-Hilo coach Tino Reyes and assistant coach Carl McGown gathered after the bench changeover. ADVERTISING After missing on multiple opportunities to put
After missing on multiple opportunities to put away Academy of Art in a first-set loss Thursday at home, UH-Hilo coach Tino Reyes and assistant coach Carl McGown gathered after the bench changeover.
The Vulcans, they said, were entering “uncharted territory.”
Not anymore. A pair of five-set victories later, UH-Hilo has a much better idea of where it’s going, what needs to get better and what it can hang its hat on.
The road map to success, so far, rides on the right arm of Marley Strand-Nicolaisen and all-around resiliency, with the latest evidence coming in Saturday night’s five-set win at Chaminade in which Strand-Nicolaisen slammed seven of her match-high 23 kills in the Game 5.
“We put our hearts out on the floor against a good Chaminade team on their floor,” Reyes said after the 25-19, 26-24, 18-25, 20-25, 15-12 triumph in Honolulu. “This is a good win for us.”
It’s a victory the Vulcans (4-2, 2-1 Pacific West Conference) might not have been able to gut out last season, when it won only two games on the road.
The Silverswords (10-2, 3-1 PacWest) were looking to add to the best start in program history, losing for the first time in nine home matches.
“We were just a little more lucky than Chaminade was,” Reyes said, perhaps referring to a Silverswords service error that ended the match.
Chaminade used a 13-3 run in Game 4 to extend the contest and was led by Keani Passi’s career-high 21 kills. Both teams hot. 148.
UH-Hilo never trailed in a fifth set that outside hitters Strand-Nicolaisen and Morgan Lees dominated. Each were reliable options on the left side, took 55 swings and finished with double-doubles. Strand-Nicolaisen tallied 17 digs and four aces, while Lees posted 16 kills – four in the fifth set – with 10 digs.
“(Morgan) was big for us,” Reyes said.
The Strand-Nicolaisen/Lees combination was good enough for the Vulcans to overcome their service snafus (five aces, 12 errors).
Another point of emphasis for UH-Hilo heading into its home match at 7 p.m. Thursday against Hawaii Pacific will be finding more support for the left-side hitters. Middle blocker Kyndra Trevino-Scott provided six kills, middle blocker Shelby Harguess finished with four kills and six blocks and setter Sienna Davis had 44 assists and 12 digs.
“We’ve got to get some presence in the middle and on the right side,” Reyes said. “Until then, we’ll have to depend on the left-side hitters.”
