The good news came before the UH-Hilo women’s volleyball team swept last place Holy Names.
The Vulcans blitzed the Hawks 25-21, 25-21, 25-22 on Wednesday night at their gym, winning their second straight and maintaining second place in the standings.
Earlier in the day, the Vuls learned they were seventh in the latest West region poll jumping up from 10th. The conference champions of the PacWest, GNAC, and CCAA earn automatic berths to the West regional. The next five teams in the poll will qualify.
The Vulcans (22-7, 17-4 PacWest) close their regular season against Academy of Art (12-15, 9-10) at 7 p.m. Saturday. UHH swept the Urban Knights earlier.
“I’m proud of our team and pleased that they have been recognized for the hard work and success that they have had this year,” UHH coach Chris Leonard said. “We hope that we have the opportunity to represent UH-Hilo and the PacWest at the NCAA Regional Tournament in a couple of weeks.
“We swept Academy of Art in San Francisco. They serve tough but we had a nice passing night. We beat a lot of good teams and were finally recognized in the poll.”
The Vulcans weren’t sharp, but they really didn’t need to be against the lowly Hawks (3-23, 2-18), who have lost seven straight.
Bria Beale had 10 kills and hit .182, and Armani Moultrie had an All-American night with 10 kills and a .400 hitting clip for the Vuls, who hit just .190 and had 22 unforced errors, including 11 from the service line.
“That’s an area we excel at, and we missed our targets,” Leonard said. “We’ll sharpen things up at practice.”
Kaila Lizama had 17 digs, and setter Kendall Kott had a double-double with 24 assists and 12 digs for UHH, which outblocked Holy Names, 6-4.
Lauren Sera had 10 kills and hit .227, and Fanny Chow had nine kills and hit .206 for the Hawks, who finished with a .155 hitting clip and 29 unforced errors.
“That wasn’t our cleanest game for sure,” Leonard said. “We have the possibility of playing in the postseason and need to be sharper.”
In the 25-21 first set, the Hawks showed what a last-place team looks like: They beat themselves and give up easy points.
UHH’s first three points were on unforced errors. The next two were aces by Lizama to cut HNU’s lead to 7-9. The Hawks’ advantage was brief.
As expected the Hawks filled the role of underdog from the start. Chow, a 5-foot-3 sophomore, pounded the first four kills for a 4-2 lead. But talent often trumps pluckiness, no matter how hard the underdogs play.
The Vulcans played down to the competition. They hit .125 and had 10 unforced errors, one fewer than the Hawks, including five from the service line. The Hawks hit just .098.
UHH had five straight unforced errors to help HNU get within 20-19. If the Hawks were thinking upset, it wasn’t going to happen. The dose of reality came quickly.
The Vuls got a block, an ace, Moultrie had two kills, and Alexandria Parisian closed the set.
In the 25-21 second set, Holy names put up a good fight, sticking with UHH and knotting the score 16-16. Beale had a kill, Wade had a pair, and UHH got a block to take a 19-16 lead.
The momentum had shifted, and Holy Names called a timeout. The Hawks needed to catch their breath and figure out how to get away from the bulldozer. Chow, the shortest player on the court, came to the rescue. She smoked a ball through a seam.
HNU had a block for another good moment to cut UHH’s lead to 19-18, and then the good times were over. The Vuls went on a 6-3 run, capped by Kendall Kott’s ace.
Beale had five kills in the set, and Emily Wade added four for the Vuls.
The 25-22 third set wasn’t really that close or competitive. UHH shredded the Hawks’ serve -receive passing with five aces, and scored its last three points on unforced errors.