COSTA MESA -- It was a packed house for the Pacific West Conference opener Thursday night, as women's volleyball took down Hawaii Pacific University in straight sets to jumpstart their league campaign. The Sharks, who came away with the upset in last year's meeting at the Freed Center, nearly took the opening frame, but VU rallied back on late 8-0 run to win 25-22. Set two was much more comfortable for the home side with a 25-18 scoreline, and the Lions ended the contest in the third stanza 25-21.

The Blue and Gold make it seven wins in a row, improving to 9-1 and 1-0 in the PacWest. The Sharks suffer their third straight loss, dropping to 4-10 overall and 0-1 in the division.

Leading all scorers was VU captain Morgan Cole, who delivered her 38th career double-double with 10 kills and 10 digs, and a service ace. Adeline Galvanoni was second in kills with eight, while also collecting three digs.

Libero Kate Fagundes had a standout night protecting the back row. She scooped up several quality pickups on her way to a career-best 17 digs.

Delaney Hill and Kayla Robinson ran the front row with 12 kills and 11 blocks between them. Hill had six kills, hitting .313 (6-1-16), and added four block assists and a solo block. Robinson went faultless for the fifth time this season, scoring at .667 rate (6-0-9) to tally six kills with six blocks.

Freshman Abigayle Gotwals came ready in her extended minutes, finishing with five kills, five digs, and two service aces. Payton Darm tied a career-high three aces.

Vanguard as a team had a season-best 11 aces to HPU's five. The Lions have now out-served their opponents 26-12 in their last three games.

What Happened?
Set 1 - Set one was a scrappy tangle between both teams, with neither team settling into an attacking groove. VU hit .000 (11-11-32) with their highest single set attacking error threshold of the season (11).

The Sharks also fought through an attacking slump, going negative at -.037 (6-7-27) for the opening period.

Hawaii Pacific had first blood in the set, but VU had a 3-1 run, including Cole's first kill of the match, to take the lead. VU jumped out on another run, this time stretching out a 6-1 push to jump out by seven (9-2 VU). Darm drew back-to-back aces in the spurt, and Macy Kavanaugh finished the run with a shifty dump down the middle.

The Lions continued to lead by a steady four-to-five-point margin thanks to an Abby Lutterloh ace (13-8 VU), but attack errors began to stack up, and the Sharks smelled a way back into the stanza. HPU bolstered a 10-2 run to take the lead 17-15 as well as the momentum. Galvanoni got VU back on the board, but the Lions suffered their 10th error of the set as HPU stood at a five-point advantage (22-17 HPU), ready to end the frame.

From that point on, everything went wrong for the visitors in the closing moments of the set. HPU would not score again in the frame, as VU forced five attack errors from the Sharks to crank out an 8-0 run to win the stanza.

Set 2- VU course-corrected after their shaky start and fired off a game-high .333 (12-2-30) in the second set. HPU were held sub .100 (.081) in successive sets (10-7-37).

HPU were first to score once again, this time sporting a 4-1 start with a few shots down the left-hand side. The Blue and Gold regained a foothold with a 12-4 run; however, to keep the Sharks in check. Darm nailed her third ace of the night to the back corner, Kavanugh converted on another setter dump, and Hill went for a pair of kills through the right to build the lead to four (13-9 VU).

The set stood at its closest after the 6-2 HPU run shaved the Lion buffer down to two, but Cole's cross-court kill cut the air out of the HPU sails to keep the Lions on the throttle. Up 16-14, the Lions never looked back, winning the remainder of the frame 9-4 with Gotwals's first career service ace ensuring the win.

Set 3- Unlike sets one and two, the Blue and Gold never trailed in the final period. This was despite HPU's team-high .324 (12-1-34) clip in the set, as the stanza called for long rallies and second chance kills between both sides.

The opening four Lion points were split between two HPU service errors and two Cole kills. Julia Ringenberg joined in for another setter dump kill, and Robinson ripped two straight kills through the seams for a 7-4 VU margin. The Sharks misfired on two bad sets, as well as a block error, which allowed the Lions to reach their 14th point of the set. Ringenberg then made it 15 with an ace toward the donut.

HPU made the set uncomfortable in its final phases, forcing two VU errors and going for two aces in a row to snip the Lion lead one (19-18 VU) and push the hosts into a timeout. Viktoria Dickson's reintroduction to the back row helped settle the storm in serve receive, as the senior supplied Cole for her 10th kill of the match. The Blue and Gold clinched the match on a 5-3 run, with Ringenberg's line shot serve sealing the deal in the PacWest opening win.

What's Next? VU hosts the reigning conference champions, Chaminade, on Saturday, September 27, at 6 pm.