Now that is how you finish a road trip.
Featuring more balance than bravado and a formidable block , UH-Hilo’s volleyball team is starting to earn braggadocios results.
Opponents are taking notice.
“They care a very consistent team, they don’t make errors, and they work hard and they don’t let the ball drop,” Point Loma setter Cara Keturakis said Saturday in a school video after the Vulcans’ clean sweep in San Diego.
The Vuls headed home secure in second place in the Pacific West Conference and with three consecutive victories against teams with winning records.
UHH (9-3, 5-1 PacWest) can look forward to a potential season-defining six-match homestand, and in theory the opening two matches should be easy kills compared to the teams it just vanquished on the road.
The Vuls’ seventh sweep of the season and seventh win in eight matches Saturday read 25-23, 25-19, 25-17, and the high hitters were found in the middle, with Kiley Davis (.500 hitting percentage) and Ashton Jessee (.428) each compiling eight kills. Jessee also led the way as the Vulcans finished with 14 blocks, the most an opponent has had versus the Sea Lions (7-7, 4-3) this season.
To Keturakis, they were “killer blocks.”
“They did a very good job on their side and making sure they put it in our court,” she said.
Game 1 was close until Davis and Jessee came through with a block and a kill, respectively, to end it.
Bria Beale had another solid effort with seven kills and a team-best 13 digs, Evelin Solyomvari posted seven kills and Alexandria Parisian added six.
Point Loma hit just .081, making a season-high 12 errors in the second set.
‘They were more consistent,” Point Loma’s Ashlynn Fresques said, “you could see it from the hitting percentages.”
UH-Hilo needs just one more road win to match last’s season’s total.
“These four years, it’s great to see the different battle between the teams,” Point Loma senior Alyssa Rifilato said. “I look forward to playing them again.”
The rematch is in November in Hilo, but first the Vuls can set their sights on winless Academy of Art on Friday and struggling Holy Names on Monday during a home stretch that lasts more than two weeks.
