UH-Hilo played uneven, coach Gene Krieger said, which means his volleyball team was the opposite of flat.
UH-Hilo played uneven, coach Gene Krieger said, which means his volleyball team was the opposite of flat.
Hardened by eight road matches to open the season, the Vulcans debuted at home, survived a topsy-turvy second set and pulled through for their first Pacific West Conference victory of the season, beating Academy of Art 25-19, 30-28, 25-19 in front of a crowd of 575 at their gym.
“The crowd was great, they made lots of noise,” Krieger said. “It was the first time that we have had that this year, and I am not sure that we knew exactly what to do with it.”
Junior transfer Lucee Fitzgerald knew what to do, smacking 15 kills, including six in the final set. Fitzgerald took more than twice as many swings (41) as any other player. Siera Green added nine kills, hitting .300, and Randi Hunter added seven, needing just 12 attacks.
UH-Hilo (4-5, 1-2 PacWest) surged to a 11-4 lead in the second set, yet had to rally to deny the Urban Knights (0-3, 2-7) two set points as Green’s ace tied Game 2 24-24. Fitzgerald ended a long rally with a cross-court kill to clinch the set.
The Vulcans hit .264, finding the best success in the first (.341) and third (.357) sets.
Kimiah Johnson posted 13 kills to pace the Urban Knights.
Fresno Pacific (2-9, 1-2), which lost to Chaminade on Friday, visits at 7 p.m. Saturday.
“It was great to get the win at home,” Krieger said. “We didn’t play an even match, but we had moments were we played well. We will have a chance to keep it going tomorrow night and hopefully we will take advantage of that opportunity.”