A 28-match slate awaits the 2023 UH-Hilo Women’s Volleyball team for head coach Chris Leonard’s fifth season.
The Vulcans open with eight road matches — starting with a trip to Fairbanks, Alaska with a pair of contests against each of Alaska-Fairbanks and Alaska-Anchorage before island-hopping to O’ahu to take on American International College, Cal Poly Pomona, West Virginia State and Sonoma State.
“We’re excited for the upcoming season with a tough non-conference schedule in Alaska and Honolulu, including matches against three defending conference champions,” Leonard said. “The non-conference will prepare us to pursue our goal of a PacWest Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament berth. The level of play continues to rise in conference and we anticipate hard-fought battles each week.”
The three aforementioned conference champs are Alaska-Anchorage (GNAC), American International College (NE10) and Cal Poly Pomona (CCAA) as well as CCAA Tournament runner-up Sonoma State.
UH-Hilo’s first home match is set for Sept. 16 against HPU.
The conference-opening homestand will continue with Concordia University Irvine (Sept. 21), Point Loma Nazarene (Sept. 23) and Azusa Pacific (Sept. 24).
Another cluster of home matches is slated for mid-October — featuring Chaminade, conference-newcomer Westmont, Biola and Fresno Pacific before returning for a final pair of contests with Dominican and Academy of Art in early November.
“We look forward to playing in front of our fans in a packed Vulcan Gym for 10 home conference matches, including a first-time matchup against the PacWest’s newest member Westmont College of Santa Barbara, California,” Leonard said.
The Warriors are making the transition from NAIA to the NCAA Division II and the PacWest Conference.
Westmont College is coming off a Golden Sun Athletic Conference championship with an appearance in the NAIA National Championships.
UH-Hilo posted a 4-22 overall record in 2022 and will have 12 returnees from a season ago in addition to the incoming recruiting class.
