Tribune-Herald
Tribune-Herald
University of Hawaii at Hilo volleyball coach Tino Reyes measures the progress of his young team one improvement at a time.
He saw some Wednesday against Fresno Pacific, but not enough
As a result, the Vulcans are right back where they started.
Jessie Alcorn tallied 16 kills as the No. 21 Thunderbirds swept UHH 25-20, 25-21, 25-20 in a Pacific West Conference match in Fresno, Calif.
After beginning the season 5-0, the Vulcans (5-5, 0-5 PacWest) are back to .500 with their winless start in conference.
“We were fair to middling,” Reyes said. “We can’t sustain anything or find any consistency.
“We need to get a lot better. We can play well at times, but not for long periods of time.”
Alcorn hit .467, and Rupia Inck (15 kills) and Morghan Williams (10) also cleared .400 as Fresno Pacific attacked at a .371 rate.
UHH was led by Marley Strand-Nicolaisen, who smacked 15 kills. She was one of four freshmen in the starting lineup.
“We were the more inexperienced team, but it’s going to be like that pretty much every conference match,” Reyes said.
Freshman Kyndra Trevino-Scott added 11 kills, while freshman Allee Johnson had 10 for UHH, which hit .179.
Freshman setter Sienna Davis compiled 23 assists, while outside hitter Callie Aberle had four kills on her seven swings.
Johnson is the latest freshman to joint the starting lineup, but she hit just 108.
Fresno Pacific (7-5, 2-3) snapped a three-match losing streak.
UHH continues its road trip Friday at Dominican (Calif.).