The UH-Hilo volleyball team swept Point Loma 25-20, 25-17, 25-21 on Wednesday night before 200 fans at UHH gym in one hour and 26 minutes, playing the type of clean ball needed to climb up the PacWest standings and beat the schools at the top.
Bria Beale hammered 17 kills on 43 swings and hit .326, Samara Cruz had 10 kills, Ashton Jessee added seven to lead the Vulcans (15-5, 12-4 PacWest), who hit .241 and are fourth in the standings.
Beale had 15 digs for a double-double, Cruz had 10 digs for a double-double. Tani Hoke led the defensive effort with a match-high 22 digs.
Claire Smith and Anna Massari had seven kills each to lead the Sea Lions (13-11, 9-7), who hit .136 and are sixth.
The Vulcans next have a monster doubleheader against two-time defending champion Azusa Pacific, which tripped over its shoelaces with three losses to begin a six-match Hawaii road trip, at 9 a.m. Saturday at UHH gym.
In the first set Wednesday, UHH trailed 14-13 until a 5-0 run. The two outsides, Beale and Cruz, had four kills each.
Beale pulverized nine kills on 14 swings and hit .571 in Game 2, and the 5-foot-11 former UC Irvine Anteater showed why there’s no one like her in the conference. She’s a rare combination hitter who can dial up her swing and hit with power, like Shohei Otani, or control it and spray shots all over the place, like Ichiro.
“She had a great night. In set 2, she was on fire,” UHH coach Chris Leonard said. “Overall, we were efficient and made the plays that we needed to make.”
The other parts of Beale’s package are rather obvious: Her Division I athleticism and high volleyball IQ. Two brilliant shots from the backrow best illustrate that. In Game 2, Beale cranked a shot that bounced off a Sea Lion and clanked off the ceiling for a point and a 13-3 lead. In Game 3, Beale took something off her fastball and split the backrow defense to get UHH within 5-4.
In Game 3, Beale blasted a line shot off a Sea Lion for a 24-19 lead, and Kendall Kott set Jessee for a smooth step-out swing for match point.
It’s been a rough start to the Hawaii road trip for the Cougars (16-7, 11-4), who started in first place but fell into fifth place – a half-game behind UHH and Concordia – after losing twice to Chaminade, which is now in first place, and Hawaii Pacific, which is eighth. APU’s rematch Wednesday at Chaminade ended in a three-set loss, and another rematch is on tap against HPU on Thursday. The six-game trip to the islands was necessitated when the Cougars had to postpone home matches against the Hawaii teams in October because of COVID-10 protocols.
Leonard’s observation of everybody beating everybody is coming true and should help his team have a chance at a jump up the West Region poll, which determines five at-large teams. The PacWest, CCAA, and GNAC champions earn AQs to the West Regional. There’s still a very, very slim chance at the PacWest title for the Vuls, who close against Chaminade and HPU next weekend at home. The Sharks beat the Vuls earlier in the season.
The second West Region poll was released on Wednesday, and Chaminade was fifth. APU was ninth, Biola 10th, and UHH, to no surprise after a four-set loss to subpar Academy of Art ( seventh in the PacWest) was not ranked in the Top 10.
APU’s five-set loss to the Sharks on Tuesday was stunning because the Cougars have been so good for so long and were coming off three straight sweeps before a four-set loss to the Silverswords on Monday night at McCabe gym to begin their Oahu nightmare.
Chaminade coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke’s team was picked No. 2 in the preseason poll, so no surprise there. But HPU isn’t exactly a powerhouse. The Sharks started the season out of water, losing their first five, so that was a huge standings shakeup and erased APU’s cloak of invincibility.
In any case, the Vulcans get two days of rest while the Cougars have just one and are still recovering from flying 2,579 miles from Azusa, Calif., to Hawaii, not exactly the road trip they had in mind, getting beat three times, then another rematch, get one day off, then battle a Vulcan squad that has geared its mindset to bury you in the sand — not once but twice.
The Cougars will hope to have a good night’s sleep, not get bothered by the coqui frogs and be ready to conclude their six-day, six-match road trip, starting a doubleheader bright and early on Saturday.
“I told the team if we play like the way we did, clean, for the next handful of games, we’re going to be tough to beat,” Leonard said. “For the Southern California teams, a trip to Hawaii is no vacation. If you play well, you can win. If you don’t play well you can lose to anybody. It goes that way for everybody.”
Well, Beale and the Vulcans were on their game. Beale is competitive and fearless. How many people do you know go skydiving on a whim? She’s like All-State insurance. With Beale, you know you’re in good hands.
