For the second straight day, the UH-Hilo volleyball team turned PacWest expectations upside down.
The Vulcans defeated Biola 25-20, 12-25, 25-17, 19-25, 18-16 in a conference showdown on Thursday at La Mirada, Calif.
In the PacWest preseason poll, Biola was predicted to finish second and Concordia third; UHH was picked to place sixth.
The Vulcans swept Concordia on Wednesday and prevailed over Biola, which entered on a three-match winning streak.
In Game 5, UHH was in trouble and stuck in a 13-11 hole, but Bria Beale knocked down a kill, and Evelin Solyomvari followed with a pair to position the Vulcans for match point.
The Eagles called timeout, and Sierra Bauder sandwiched kills around a Biola hitting error for a 15-15 tie.
Ashton Jessee pushed UHH ahead 16-15, but Christina DenBoer answered for Biola and tied it at 16-16.
Then UHH called timeout. At that point, Beale, the team’s best shotmaker, was stuck in a back-row rotation.
It didn’t matter because freshman Alexandria Parisian slammed consecutive kills to close the match.
It was a contrasting day for a pair of preseason All-PacWest picks: UHH libero Mina Grant and Biola outside hitter Sabrina Winslow.
Grant finished with a match-high 19 digs while Winslow had nine kills and hit only .103.
UHH setter Basia Sauni had a double-double with 29 assists and 16 digs, despite sharing time with freshman setter Maile Powell, who had 20 assists and three digs.
Beale had her typical all-around game: 14 kills and 12 digs for a double-double, and she hit .294.
Solyomvari also had 14 kills and hit .267, Parisian led UHH’s hitting attack for the second straight day with 15 kills and hit a blistering .364.
Jessee added nine kills and hit .444 for the Vulcans (8-4, 4-1 PacWest), who hit .256 and jumped to second in the standings.
Bauder had 15 kills and DenBoer had 14 for the Eagles (8-5, 4-2), who hit .251 and fell into a tie for third.
UHH plays Point Loma (6-6, 3-2) on Saturday to close its four-match road trip.
The Sea Lions, on a two-match losing streak, were predicted to finish fifth, one spot higher than UHH.
Soccer
Men: The Vulcans keep suffering lopsided losses since upsetting No. 24 Western Washington in their season-opener.
On Thursday, Hawaii Pacific beat UHH 4-1 in a nonconference match at the Waipio Peninsula Soccer Complex.
Pedro Werneck scored in the second half for the Vulcans (1-3), who have been outscored 13-2 and outshot 71-16 in their three losses.
The Sharks (2-2) scored three goals in the second half and outshot the Vuls 21-4.
Women: Unlike their season-opener when they couldn’t hold a 1-0 lead with less than a minute left, the Vulcans closed out a game and beat HPU 1-0 for their first win.
Tiera Arakawa scored off an assist from Bryana-Marie Ebbers at the 63:45 mark for UHH (1-1-1), which outshot the Sharks (1-3-1), 14-10.
Then UHH played 17 minutes of shutdown defense to pocket the win for goalie Bailey Cahill, who had three saves.
Golf
Men’s golf coach Earl Tamiya’s squad opens its season Friday at the Saint Martin’s Invitational and later competes at the Western Washington Intercollegiate, two places the 28th-year coach has been many times.
“I know the drill and so do my players,” Tamiya said, who returns his top five scorers. “We have been here before and these guys know the ropes. I hope that the results will show that.”
The Vulcans finished fifth at last year’s PacWest championships. Tamiya hopes that the Vulcans, who won PacWest titles in 2005, 2008, 2011 and 2014, can climb the ladder even higher this year.
“We have a veteran team, mixed in with some young players who can contribute, so we should be getting better.”
Senior Jared Kinoshita leads the group. The fourth-year player led last year’s team with a 74.12 average and finished tied for fifth at the PacWest championships.
“He has been our most consistent player,” Tamiya said. Kinoshita was a First Team All-PacWest pick last spring.
Right behind him was Taylor Patrick, now a junior. The British Columbia native had a 75.58 average.
Warren Miller, who transferred to UHH at winter break last year, had a 76.42 average. He followed Bakersfield native Kinoshita to Hilo after Cal State Bakersfield eliminated its program. Ryan Roodzant, another player that calls Bakersfield his hometown, averaged 77.34 last year.
Sophomore Evan Merrier also returns (78.04), as do fellow sophomores Adam Chiya and Colton Servis. Newcomers include Andrew Otani (Honolulu/Iolani School), his prep teammate Noah Lau, and Donovan Billena, a sophomore transfer from Multnomah University, who hails from Ewa Beach and Campbell High.
