A year of ups, downs

By MATT GERHART

Tribune-Herald sports writer

Already trailing by two sets, Bria Morgan put down a kill to finally give the University of Hawaii at Hilo a lead and a little momentum to rev up its crowd. A day late and a dollar short, the Vulcans then stubbed their toes.

Morgan promptly chalked up a service error, Patty Snel soon followed suit and by the time UHH made its third miscue from beyond the backline in the set, coach Tino Reyes could only shake his head.

He wasn’t alone.

“Even the crowd started groaning,” he said “They felt my pain.”

It’s been that kind of year for the rebuilding Vulcans volleyball team.

Capped by a 25-21, 25-16, 25-21 loss to Azusa Pacific on Monday night, UHH (4-7, Pacific West Conference, 4-13) failed to win a set during its three-match homestand. It’s lost four straight, all sweeps, and sits ninth in the 14-team PacWest.

The final contest during the home stint followed the same pattern of the first two — and most of the matches before that. Morgan, a freshman from Soquel, Calif., led all hitters by burying 24 kills, but she was far and away the busiest person at UHH Gym again, taking 60 swings. While Snel finished with eight kills on 29 attempts and a team-high 13 digs, UHH was again outdone by an opponent with more balance, better efficiency and increased firepower.

And when the Vulcans, who start three freshmen and two sophomores, don’t pass well, Reyes realizes they have little margin for error

“The teams that we played (on the homestand), they’re just ahead of us,” he said. “They’re a little bit more accomplished than us. More hitters than us. We can alleviate that with some better recruiting on my part. So we’ll see what happens.”

The third-year coach will unveil his next class Nov. 14, but NCAA rules prohibit him from talking about it until then.

For now, UHH will continue to ride Morgan, work some sets to Snel, the only senior in the rotation, and hope that middle blockers Olivia Lane, Abbey Wade and Cassady Granado can contribute more.

Lane had one of her more productive matches of the season Monday with five kills on 10 attacks.

“We’ve got a little bit better from our middle attack,” Reyes said. “At least it’s coming around.”

Still, it all starts with Morgan.

Reyes could only chuckle when he learned that she leads the conference in kills and points (kills, aces, blocks).

“Doesn’t surprise me at all,” he said, “because we set her coming out of the shower.”

Morgan’s also the only player in the league with more than a 1,000 attacks (1,067), and she’s taken nearly twice as many as Snel. In fact, no other player in the PacWest has swung more than 850 times.

She figures to be as busy as ever Friday night in Laie, Oahu, when UHH visits No. 8 BYU-Hawaii (8-0, 13-2), which is riding a 12-match winning streak.

The attack has become so one-sided that opponents are starting to give Morgan the Hillary Hurley treatment. Just as teams went right at the former UHH star last season, conference newcomer Azusa Pacific (6-5, 14-7) did the same, often serving Morgan to force her to come up with a good pass first just so she could get a good look at a kill.

“If she can do it all, we’ll let her beat us,” Cougars coach Chris Keife said.

The strategy seemed to work. Meanwhile, Azusa, replacing seven seniors from a squad that reached the NAIA quarterfinals last season, hit .346 and was powered by Jackie Landers’ 21 kills and sparkling .447 attack clip on 38 attempts.

Morgan started off strong with .273 hitting in the first set for 10 kills, but she finished at .183 as the Vuls attacked at a .190 clip.

“Sometime you serve (her) to put a little bit more pressure on her,” Reyes said. “She’s got to do more and consequently she doesn’t jump as high or doesn’t get as good a run on her approach.

“It takes her out of rhythm, and if she doesn’t pass the ball well, than she’s got to hit with two blockers on her. She did a pretty good job.”