UH-Hilo volleyball coach Tino Reyes considers Marley Strand Nicolaisen to be his team’s best hitter, best passer, best blocker … just best period.
UH-Hilo volleyball coach Tino Reyes considers Marley Strand Nicolaisen to be his team’s best hitter, best passer, best blocker … just best period.
But when the senior gets stuck in the back row, the Vulcans aren’t at their best.
Azusa Pacific turned the tables on UH-Hilo on Monday night at its gym with a 25-18, 26-24, 18-25, 25-18 victory that came less than four weeks since the Vuls swept a match between the two teams in Southern California.
So, did the Cougars get better, or did his team regress?
“I think a little of both,” Reyes said.
The Vulcans’ third consecutive loss, dropping them to 10th on the PacWest standings, once again came with outside hitter Siera Green watching from behind the UH-Hilo bench with an ankle injury.
Her absence puts more of a onus on Strand-Nicolaisen (16 kills, 62 swings, .129 hitting percentage) and Haylee Roberts (10 kills, 34, .147) to deliver offense.
While Roberts’ swing total was fine, Strand-Nicolaisen’s was inflated, Reyes said.
“If Haylee doesn’t hit .300 or .400, we’re going to miss Siera,” he said.
Freshman middle blocker Julianne Miller was sterling for the Cougars (10-12, 6-7), with 20 kills and just attack error.
The Vulcans (7-11, 5-8 PacWest) hit only .140 and were outblocked 11-2, but the most galling number for Reyes was UH-Hilo’s 12 hitting errors during close a second set.
“Just think if we eliminate two of those, we might win the set.” he said.
Reyes counted two rotations during the second and fourth sets where UH-Hilo got “stuck” with Strand-Nicolaisen in the back row and not enough firepower up front.
Azusa Pacific went on a 5-0 run to take a 23-19 lead in Game 2, and four three-point spurts helped the Cougars jump out out to a commanding 13-5 lead in Game 4.
Middle blocker Kyndra Trevino-Scott did her part with 10 kills.
“There is no question they were better than us tonight,” Reyes said.
And so an eight-match homestand is quickly getting away from the Vulcans. They close it out Saturday night against Holy Names.
Golf
Academy of Art owned an eight-stroke lead after two rounds of the Dennis Rose Invitational at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course.
The Urban Knights shot rounds of 303 and 300 (27-over) to take a lead over Stetson, a Division I team out of Florida.
The Vulcans sat in sixth place in the six-team field after carding a 327-316 (67-over).
Waiakea graduate Andi Igawa shot a 78-79 (13-over) to lead UH-Hilo.