UH-Hilo was not ranked in the first NCAA West Region volleyball rankings released on Wednesday.
The rankings are used to determine the eight-team Division II West regional tournament.
The Vulcans (16-5, 12-3 PacWest) are tied for third in the conference with Point Loma (15-7, 12-3) and behind Azusa Pacific (18-6, 14-2) and Biola (18-6, 14-3).
From the PacWest, APU is seventh and Chaminade (18-4, 12-4) is eighth. The Silverswords are fifth in the conference but beat UHH on Oct. 6.
The Vuls are still in the running for the PacWest title, which is an automatic qualifier for a regional berth. They play two road matches before they host APU next Wednesday on Halloween.
Meanwhile, senior libero Mina Grant is working her way back into the lineup after missing four home matches with a shoulder injury. Grant has played all three games on the road trip, registering a combined 23 digs, including a team-high 13 on Tuesday.
She played all four sets against Fresno Pacific, the first time Grant has played a full match since an Oct. 1 home match against Holy Names.
Ranked teams included in Rose field
UH-Hilo’s 12th annual Dennis Rose Intercollegiate Invitational will feature 14 teams, including three ranked in the NCAA Division II top seven, that runs Monday-Wednesday at the Waikoloa Kings’ Course.
It’s one of two tournaments the Vulcans will play on the Big Island during the 2018-19 season. The Amer Ari Intercollegiate (Feb. 7-9) is an almost exclusively Division I field.
The headliners of this years’ field are No. 2 nationally ranked Western Washington, No. 6 Dixie State and No. 7 Sonoma State. The No. 2 Vikings have already won three tournaments this fall.
Other teams in the field include Academy of Art, Biola, Cal State Monterey Bay, Chaminade, Colorado Christian, Cal State Dominguez Hills, Hawaii Pacific, Holy Names, Notre Dame de Namur, Stanislaus State, Saint Martin’s and UHH. The tournament also has three individual players currently ranked in the nation’s top 26 in No. 13 Blake Bourelle (Sonoma State), No. 18 Chase Carlson (Colo. Christian) and No. 26 Nick Sparling (Western Washington).
In squaring off against 13 NCAA West/South Region teams, it’s a big match for the Vulcans in terms of regional rankings. UHH is currently 10th in the region and 70th nationally of 218 teams. Six of the clubs in the Dennis Rose field are currently ranked ahead of the Vulcans.
Last year’s winner was Wilmington (Delaware), and Dixie State’s Jayce Frampton was the medalist. UH Hilo has won the tournament four times, from 2011-14, and also boasted of the individual winners each of those years: Jamie Hall (2011), Corey Kozuma (2012), Chris Shimomura (2013) and Dalen Yamauchi (2014).
The tournament will wrap up the 2018 portion of the ‘18-19 season for UHH. The event is open and free to the public.