By MATT GERHART
By MATT GERHART
Tribune-Herald sports writer
It took 91 swings, but Bria Morgan finally got a chance to savor victory.
The University of Hawaii at Hilo freshman volleyball player kind of likes the emotion, and now she hopes to bottle it up and use it again and again. Maybe winning can be contagious.
“I think we’re going to take how this felt, this exact feeling, and we’re going to put it into every match, and we’re going to start really strong in every game and just play as a team,” she said.
Nothing came easy, and there were plenty of bumps and bruises along the way, but Morgan had a feeling that Monday night was going to be different. The Vulcans’ workhorse outside hitter delivered with a career-high 28 kills as UHH bested Dixie State in four sets at UHH Gym to end a season-opening seven-match losing streak.
“I’m so excited,” said Morgan, a 5-foot-11 outside hitter from Roseville, Calif. “When I was walking here, I was thinking it’s going to be a really good day. As soon as I got to the gym, we had a team meeting and we felt cohesive.”
Winning cures a lot of ills, but the outlook wasn’t so bright just day earlier. Upset with his team’s work habits Sunday, coach Tino Reyes cut short practice after only 30 minutes. That prompted some of the Vuls’ veterans to call a meeting to try and turn things around.
“We all sat in a circle and we talked about how we needed to come together and how it’s not an individual sport,” Morgan said. “We all benefit from each other. That’s the reason why we won. We definitely came together more as a team.”
Sophomore middle blocker Olivia Lane returned after injuring her ankle in the middle of the third set and finished with eight kills and senior outside hitter Patty Snel added seven to go along with a match-high 28 digs for UHH (1-7, 1-1 Pacific West Conference). Freshman setter Jolie Au’s 38 assists led all players.
While the Vuls were simply overmatched in previous losses by teams with greater experience and more firepower, a Red Storm squad that also relies heavily on freshmen figured to be a much fairer fight. Dixie State (2-4, 0-1) did its part, committing 10 more errors despite taking only 11 more swings.
After a 25-17, 26-24, 22-25, 25-18 victory, now all the Vuls have to do is win over their coach.
Reyes was demonstrative and offered up some harsh criticism for his players Monday, and victory No. 1 didn’t grade out as winning performance in his mind. Nor did it ease his comfort level heading into a home contest at 7 p.m. tonight against No. 15 Grand Canyon (10-1, 0-1).
“There are some plays that we don’t even see what’s going on on the other side,” he said. “I don’t understand how we can play the game that way. It kills me to watch that.
“It’s nice to win, but it’s nicer to play good volleyball.”
Morgan’s workload — she taken 172 swings the past two matches as she develops chemistry with Au — was also too much for his taste.
“I’m happy that she can swing that many times, but it’s like being a baseball pitcher. If she’s going nine innings every game and throwing 150 pitches, eventually she’s going to wear down,” Reyes said. “Bria is easy to set to because she can hit all over the court.”
With a win all but assured late in Game 4, Reyes tried to test his team, and he’s not sure if the Vulcans passed.
UHH raced out to a 24-13 lead on the strength of Morgan’s nine kills, bringing the crowd to its feet in anticipation of match point. Things almost got dicey, however, and Reyes opted not to call a timeout as the Red Storm reeled off five consecutive points before a misplay by Mercedes O’Neal finally gave everyone a chance to breathe easy.
“I wanted to see how the girls were going to respond under duress. I wanted to see somebody kind of rally the team,” he said. “Are they going to splinter or are they going to come together?
“I don’t know that because the other girls helped us out by making that error.” Next up on Reyes’ agenda is to find a way to work more key contributors into the rotation, including sophomore outside hitter Abbey Wade, freshman middle blocker Cassady Granado, junior defensive specialist Kelia Parrilla and freshman outside hitter Andi Pickens.
Morgan led the way in kills in seven of eight matches, but Wade (four kills Monday) is a player that UHH will look to get more sets. Granado and Perreira provided a spark off the bench, Granado in particular when she teamed with Lane to give the Vuls a bigger block.
Morgan cautioned that the season is still young.
“We’re getting there,” she said. “It’s going to take a little bit longer, but we’ll get there.”