HONOLULU, HAWAII -- Ending a seven-game drought, Vanguard women's volleyball swept the Sharks of Hawaii Pacific last night to capture a Pacific West Conference win. The Lions won 25-21, 25-15, 25-16 to improve to 6-13 overall and 4-8 in the league, dropping HPU to 2-14, 1-9. The Lions return to the mainland and get almost a week to recover before Point Loma arrives at the Freed Center on October 21.
What Happened? The first set was the closest of the trio, as VU hit .250 and HPU a team-best .125, but the Lions held sway over the ending phase of the period. After the Sharks opened a slim two-point lead over the early stages, a kill by
Meadow Hobbs and a
Macy Kavanaugh ace started VU's hunt.
Abigayle Gotwals,
Saniyah Neal, and
Haylee Long all recorded kills, with an error by the Sharks drawing the set square at 12-12. After a
Kayla Robinson slam, the Lions never let up, as they only trailed once from then on. Neal and Hobbs pushed the gap to two at 18-16, and a 3-0 stretch that saw Hobbs and Robinson land strikes put the lead at 22-18, with an HPU error handing the Lions set one 25-21.
Set 2
Each side took a small step back in hitting percentage in the second frame, but the Blue and Gold still won by 10 points. Hobbs opened the set with an ace to commence a 4-1 start for VU, and after a 5-5 tie, a block by Hobbs and Robinson and a Gotwals blast helped the Lions to an 8-5 lead. Down 11-10, Vanguard forced the Sharks into some errors and turned up the pressure as part of a 9-0 run to put the set mostly to rest. Neal and Long made two blocks during that stretch, and Kavanaugh had three aces as the squad surged ahead 19-11. Gotwals had two kills down the final moments of the period, with
Maddie Buchberger and Long combining for a block to grab the set for VU 25-15. The Blue and Gold hit .185 in the second and checked Hawaii Pacific to a .000 mark.
Set 3
The Lions attached at a .364 clip in the final set and canceled HPU to a -0.063 rate as VU won 25-16. Four different players had kills and a Robinson/Gotwals block assisted Vanguard to a 5-1 edge to commence the interval. A 5-0 streak followed, with Hobbs and
Daphne Raymond getting kills along with a triple block by those two and Robinson establishing the lead at 10-3. The Sharks capitalized on some VU mistakes to shrink the gap down to 11-9, but a 9-2 counter by the Lions put the set beyond the grasp of HPU. Kills by Robinson and
Kayla Henninger completed the sweep for VU.
Gotwals and Long tied for a match-high nine kills, with Gotwals completing a double-double with a match-high 10 digs. Long had an even better hitting rate than her Chaminade night, as she ripped away at a .571 mark with only one error on 14 swings. Kavanaugh had four aces and 15 assists, with
Julia Ringenberg tallying 12 helpers. Robinson had seven kills and six total blocks, with Hobbs landing five strikes and nine digs.
Kate Fagundes had eight digs.
