Stephens Media Hawaii
The University of Hawaii at Hilo fought back from down two sets, twice denying Dixie State a victory to force a Game 5.
Then keep-away turned into giveaway.
The Vulcans made eight hitting errors in the decisive set Thursday night and fell 25-20, 25-14, 25-27, 22-25, 15-8 at UHH Gym.
While both volleyball teams notched five kills in Game 5, the Vuls (6-11, 1-11 Pacific West Conference) hit an anemic -.115, prompting coach Tino Reyes to liken the performance to that of a tennis player who double faults.
“The person doesn’t have to do anything … just collect points,” Reyes said. “It’s disappointing when you give games away. You can’t win when you don’t get the ball in.”
UHH’s inability to hit within the lines allowed the Red Storm (12-7, 9-4) to score the first five points in the fifth set, and they never let the lead slip below fourth point after that.
“They’re certainly better than us, but we could have made it a tougher match,” Reyes said. “You never can find out if you can’t stay in the game.”
Vulcans freshman Marley Strand-Nicolaisen put down a match-high 24 kills on a whopping 89 swings — easily the highest of her career — and Callie Aberle added 13 kills and 18 digs. But UHH was unable to get a third hitting threat, forcing Strand-Nicolaisen to shoulder too much of the offensive load. She made 16 errors on 0.90 hitting, which was just a tad better than her team’s 0.80 average.
“Eighty-nine swings, that’s a bit much,” Reyes said. “Sometimes she was really good and sometimes not real good.”
Freshman Kyndra Trevino-Scott, who’s usually reliable at middle blocker, endured one of the worst matches of her career with six kills and 10 errors to finish at -.103. She also saw time at rightside hitter.
The Red Storm couldn’t crack .200 either, settling at .194, but they outblocked UHH 11.5-3.5, getting 15 kills from Shannon Young and 11 more from Maddie Ray. Makenzi Bird was credited with seven block assists.
Halfway through an eight-match homestand, UHH welcomes Academy of Art at 7 p.m. Saturday, the second contest in a busy stretch that sees the Vulcans play four times in seven days.