It wasn’t a letdown because the UH-Hilo volleyball team recovered in time against winless Academy of Art, which is stuck in last place in the PacWest standings.
The second-place Vulcans defeated the Urban Knights 25-19, 21-25, 27-25, 25-16 on Friday night at the UHH gym, winning their fourth straight.
UHH (10-3, 6-1 PacWest) struggled with a .215 hitting percentage but got its typical balance. Kiley Davis had 10 kills while Ashton Jessee and Alexandria Parisian had nine kills each.
Davis hit .429, Jessee .381, and Parisian .286 to offset the off nights from Bria Beale (six kills, .077) and Evelin Solyomvari (seven kills, .053).
Libero Mina Grant led UHH’s defense and accounted for 24 digs while Beale added 11 digs, and Tori Daligcon came off the bench to offer four kills in the third and fourth sets – nine different players posted kills.
“We had some folks step up tonight when we needed them to, like Tori,” coach Gene Krieger said in a release. “Armani Moultrie also played well off the bench. It’s nice that we were able to get the win, even when we didn’t play our best.
Jillian Wheaton had 14 kills and hit .519 to lead AAU (0-16, 0-8), which finished with a .181 hitting clip.
In the pivotal third set, it was tied 25-25, and Beale knocked down a kill, and an AAU hitting error came on game point.
• UH 3, Cal State Fullerton 0: The Wahine (7-5, 3-0) dominated in their Big West home opener, getting 10 kills, 11 assists and .450 hitting from Norene Iosia to improve to 39-0 all-time against the Titans, cruising 25-15, 25-19, 25-21.
