This weekend will see plenty of home games at UH-Hilo — with volleyball tonight, then soccer and volleyball on Saturday.
UH-Hilo will also offer a special punch card promotion, where fans can win a swag bag and one basketball season ticket for attending all four weekend events — on top of having attended Thursday’s soccer game.
Volleyball vs. Westmont
At 7 p.m. tonight at the Vulcan Gymnasium, UH-Hilo will look to bounce back from last Saturday’s home loss to Chaminade — taking on Westmont.
Both the Vulcans and Warriors have conference play win percentages of .500, with Westmont (5-5 conf., 8-9 ovr.) standing at No. 6 in the Pacific West Conference and UH-Hilo (4-4 conf., 7-9 ovr.) at No. 7.
The Warriors enter tonight’s matchup on a two-game win streak, defeating No. 10 Academy of Art (1-10 conf., 2-16 ovr.) and No. 11 Dominican (0-10 conf., 0-17 ovr.) last weekend.
Westmont’s offense is led by the hitting of middle blocker/hitter Taylor Distelberg and opposite Alexis Dennick, whose hitting percentages rank No. 4 and No. 5 in PacWest, respectively. Distelberg also lead the PacWest in blocking with 24 block solos, averaging 1.23 per set.
This will be the first encounter between the Vulcans and Warriors this season. Their next will be Nov. 1 in Santa Barbara, Calif.
Men’s soccer vs. Point Loma
The Vulcans will look to notch a three-win week at home, following a 3-2 win over Biola on Monday and another 3-2 win Thursday against Westmont.
Now standing at No. 2 in the PacWest, UH-Hilo is coming for the top — taking on conference leader Point Loma at 12:30 p.m. on Saturday.
The Sea Lions will also enter the game riding a two-win streak, defeating Chaminade 4-1 on Monday and HPU 2-0 on Wednesday. Point Loma has a PacWest record of 4-1 and an 8-4 overall record.
The Sea Lions boast the strongest offense in the conference — leading with 29 goals and 25 assists. Forward Juan Salazar leads the conference with 15 points.
However, UH-Hilo’s defense is No. 1 in the PacWest — allowing just 13 goals in 11 games, notching 60 saves and three shutouts.
Women’s soccer
vs. Point Loma
The Vulcans rank No. 5 in the nation, and lead the PacWest by a mile with a 6-0 conference record and 10-0-1 overall record. At 3 p.m. on Saturday, they will take on Point Loma, which stands at No. 4 in the PacWest.
Point Loma will be no pushover, however, as its offense ranks No. 2 with 22 goals and its defense is No. 4 with just nine goals against. The Sea Lions are led by Alana Diaz with eight points.
UH-Hilo’s 2023 PacWest Conference Preseason Player of the Year Teani Arakawa leads the conference in shots on goal (21), goals (9), assists (6) and points (24).
Women’s
volleyball vs. Biola
After less than 24 hours of rest time, the Vulcans will take on the Eagles — who stand at No. 3 in the PacWest with a 7-3 conference record and 11-6 overall record.
One week later (Oct. 28), UH-Hilo will travel to Biola for the pair’s second bout.
