The musical selection after the first set at UH-Hilo gym couldn’t have been more apropos: Taylor Swift’s “Shake it off.”
The musical selection after the first set at UH-Hilo gym couldn’t have been more apropos: Taylor Swift’s “Shake it off.”
The Vulcans did – twice – but that they ultimately shook loose of Academy of Art wasn’t so much about sweeping aside past mistakes as it was their raw firepower and intuitive ball placement.
Hitting their way out of trouble Thursday night, UH-Hilo tamed the Urban Knight in five sets, 24-26, 25-11, 24-26, 25-15, 15-9, getting 26 kills from Marley Strand-Nicolaisen, 16 more from Morgan Lees and all-around solid play from Sienna Davis.
The Vulcans (3-2, 1-1 Pacific West Conference) accomplished what they failed to do in their league opener when they dropped a five-setter to BYU-Hawaii.
UH-Hilo did not make it easy on itself – wasting three set points in Game 1 and another in Game 3 – but coach Tino Reyes is beginning to realize this could be a season-long theme.
“Seems like most of the teams in the league are better,” he said on the KHLO 850 postgame show. “We are going to be seeing a lot of five-set matches.”
As good as Strand-Nicolaisen (.310 attack percentage, nine digs) and Lees (.300, 11 digs) were, Davis may have been even better.
The junior was at times out of favor with her coach last season, but she was seemingly always in the right spot Thursday. When she wasn’t setting her teammates, finishing with 53 assists, she took the honors herself, sending well-timed and well-placed dinks that found the court in between the defense of the Urban Knights (4-6, 0-2). Davis tallied nine kills on only 12 swings without and error.
Her most acrobatic play came when she saved a ball with a one-arm lunge as her back was to the net.
“They put their hearts out on the floor,” Reyes said.
UH-Hilo owned a 70-50 advantage in kills, but its biggest demerit was a service game that netted 13 errors, including five in the first set.
This could have been a defeat that stung the Vulcans for a while, but after switching off and on between sets that featured narrow losses and runaway victories, UH-Hilo flipped the script and took control in Game 5.
By Lees’ third kill of the set, the Vulcans led 7-2, Strand-Nicolaisen’s fifth kill made it 14-9 and the UH-Hilo didn’t waste a match point thanks to an attack error by Stine Raben (15 kills).
Seeing her first significant playing time of the season and with her left leg heavily wrapped, Hannah Marang delivered nine kills. Libero Mina Grant compiled 35 assists and Shelby Harguess added five kills and six blocks.
“We wanted to see what she could do,” Reyes said of Marang, who was injured in training camp. “She played well. We’re pleasantly surprised.”