Tribune-Herald
The University of Hawaii at Hilo volleyball team had a tough task trying to stop an eight-match skid against BYU-Hawaii, which earlier won in a sweep that lasted a mere 90 minutes.
On Saturday night in the rematch, the Vulcans made it tougher on themselves, being less effective in every area — hitting, digging, serving, and setting.
They fell again to the Seasiders 10-25, 19-25, 25-19, 12-25, suffering their ninth straight loss at UHH Gym to kick off an eight-match home stand.
UHH (5-9 overall, 0-9 PacWest) next hosts Azusa Pacific (12-5, 5-3) at 7 p.m. Wednesday. Then it’s conference leader Point Loma on Saturday.
BYUH (12-1, 7-1) was better than the Vulcans in hitting percentage (.260-.099), digs (75-58), aces (8-2) and assists (53-34).
Kyndra Trevino-Scott led UHH with 10 kills, but hit just .167. Callie Aberle added nine kills (.171) and Marley Strand-Nicolaisen had six kills (.029).
Allee Johnson led UHH with 11 digs. She was the only one in double-digits. Strand-Nicolaisen was next with nine digs.
Brydgette Tatupu-Leopoldo was one of three Seasiders with double-digit digs. She had 25 digs, followed by Shih Ting Chen with 20 and libero Melanie Manutai with 12 digs.
Chen pounded 19 kills, committed only two errors and hit .386. Erica Willes was pretty efficient, too. She added 11 kills, made just three errors and hit .320.
The Vulcans don’t play the Seasiders again. But next year, the matchup will be just as tough. That’s because BYUH only loses one starting senior in Manutai.