COSTA MESA – Women's volleyball suffered its first loss of the Pacific West Conference season in Thursday night's home opener against Hawaii Hilo. The Lions had a presented a productive start, but faltered late in the frame for a 22-25 loss. The Vulcans used the momentum to claim commanding 15-25, 14-25 results in a 3-0 Lion loss. The Blue and Gold drop to 4-6, 2-1 in the PacWest. Hilo return to win column, moving to 10-4, 2-1.
Abigayle Gotwals looked steady amid early season injury battles, earning her second career double-double with 13 kills and 12 digs. The sophomore hit a scalding .524 (13-2-21).
Meadow Hobbs had five kills and five digs, while
Haylee Long added four kills with three block assists.
Kayla Robinson also punched down five kills with four blocks.
Statistically, VU was most influential at the net with a 7-3 lead in blocks. Hilo controlled the game from the service line however, as the Lions were outpaced with a season low one service ace (8-1 UHH). Vanguard also had nine service errors, whilst Hilo only plotted two.
What Happened? The Lions had their best set in the opening frame with four ties and three lead changes. Gotwals was the headliner with seven kills on nine swings hitting .778 (7-0-9).
Hilo had an early 3-1 lead off a Lion service and attack error. Long was the first Lion to net a kill, sweeping a roll shot through the right. Hilo's next burst put them up 7-3, with another attack error and bad set from VU. The Blue and Gold tightened up offensively, and spread points between Gotwals and Hobbs to keep close to the visitors. VU's middle's also enjoyed themselves with
Kayla Henninger and a shot from opposite
Haley Langdon to make it 12-10 UHH. Gotwals squeezed the final stretch of Lion points before an 18-16 Vanguard lead crumbled.
Three Lion attack errors helped a 5-0 Hilo run and VU's momentum faded without a narrow 25-22 UHH win.
Set 2 Despite each producing a similar amount of attack errors (5-6 UHH), the second stanza was never close between the sides. Hilo opened with two early aces and a 7-2 advantage before Vanguard earned its first kill from Gotwals.
Hilo snatched another ace, but the Lions fought back with a 2-3 trade on a pair of kills for 11-5 UHH. The Vulcans sported a 6-0 push to go up double figures, and the Lions surrendered two block errors to grant Hilo the largest lead of the night at 13 (22-9 UHH). The Blue and Gold did mount a 6-1 run in the closing stages of the period. The Vanguard double block of Henninger and
Daphne Raymond contributed to three points during the stand.
The Vulcans used a timeout and kill through the middle to push set point and a Lion error ended the frame 25-15.
Set 3 Vanguard hit its worst .071 (9-7-28), while Hilo its best .360 (12-3-25) hitting percentage in the last period.
The Lions showed early signs of life with
Macy Kavanaugh picking up the only VU ace of the contest, for a 2-0 start for the home team. Hilo had their own ace in the chamber, and three Vulcan kills and a VU error made it 5-3 UHH.
The match got away from VU midway through the set after a Lion service error opened the door to a 9-1 Hawaii Hilo run (16-6 UHH). Hobbs had three of the final five VU kills of the evening which helped the Lions late 4-0 run to get into double figures. The Vulcans closed the match on a 6-3 split to hand VU its first conference loss of the season.
What's Next? Vanguard will host Hawaii Pacific on Saturday at 6 pm.
