SAN RAFAEL, Calif. — Highlighted by a thundering Set 2 comeback, the Hawaii Hilo women’s volleyball team opened a four-match Northern California road trip with a straight-sets victory over Dominican in Pacific West Conference play Sunday afternoon at the Conlan Center.
Set scores were 25-22, 27-25 and 25-22.
Although the end result was a sweep, it was a display of grit for the Vulcans in the second set as they faced a five-point deficit with the Penguins one point away from evening the match at one set apiece. Hawai’i Hilo rattled off six straight points to take the lead and eventually sealed the comeback with Samara Cruz’s third kill of the rally.
Isabella Freeman put down eight kills on a .500 hitting percentage along with three blocks. Chase Koepke led with 10 kills and had a hand in on two blocks.
Hawai’i Hilo moved to 2-1 in the PacWest (7-6 overall) as Dominican moved to a 2-2 conference record (3-7 overall).
The Vulcans continue through Northern California with matchups against Academy of Art (Tuesday), Menlo (Thursday) and Jessup (Saturday).
Next home games will be a seven-match slate — sandwiched around two O’ahu contests — starting Oct. 10 and running through the beginning of November.
Women’s soccer opens PacWest season
The unbeaten Vulcans women’s soccer team continued its winning ways and got the Pacific West Conference season started with a 2-1 victory over HPU at the Waipi’o Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
For the UH-H, it was the first goal surrendered through 5.99 games this season as the Sharks managed to find the back of the net with just single-digit ticks remaining on the clock.
Nonetheless, Hawai’i Hilo broke through a scoreless opening half as Diana Garcia connected with Alyssa Padron on a free kick from about 40 yards out. Garcia lofted one over the top for Padron to head in past the goalkeeper for the first score in the 58th minute.
Mere minutes later, Filippa Graneld and Savina Zamborini were firing on all cylinders to weave through a crowded Sharks defense to find Jazlynn Ellis in front of the goal for the top-bar score.
“The first goal came off of a set piece and we work on set pieces for quite a while so it’s just something that we really execute and take seriously, and having that opportunity to finish felt really great,” Padron said. “Jazzy’s goal was really nice. It was just a bunch of combinations in the box and just selfless passes too so it really shows the teamwork that we put in.”
The Vulcans dominated on the attacking end of the field with a 11-2 shot advantage (7-1 on-goal) and a 5-1 tally on corner kicks.
Hawai’i Hilo moved to a 1-0-0 record in the PacWest (4-0-2 overall) as HPU moved to an 0-1-0 conference record (1-2-0 overall).
The Vulcans return to the Big Island for a four-game homestand hosting Academy of Art (Tuesday), Dominican (Sunday), Jessup (Oct. 12) and Menlo (Oct. 15).
Top four teams in the regular season standings will qualify for the first PacWest Conference Championships postseason tournament set for Nov. 14-16 at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif.
In the third United Soccer Coaches Division II Rankings released this past Tuesday, Hawai’i Hilo once again moved up one spot in the West Region, this time to No. 6.
The Vulcans also entered the top 25 at No. 25 in the latest United Soccer Coaches Top 25 National Rankings released Tuesday morning.
This is the first time this season the Vulcans have landed in the top 25 after having previously being marked as “receiving votes” in last week’s poll. After starting the season 0-0-2, the Vulcans have won four consecutive matches.
Colorado School of Mines moved up two spots to take the top ranking in the top 25 poll.
Hawai’i Hilo also moved up to No. 5 in the United Soccer Coaches West Region Rankings — the original spot the Vulcans were slotted in for the preseason poll.
The next rankings will be released next week.
Men’s Vulcans fall in conference opener
Tom Vorkastner and Hawai’i Hilo men’s soccer rallied back to even the score with back-to-back goals in the 71st and 77th minutes, but HPU ultimately prevailed as it managed to find the back of the net with under nine minutes to go as the Vulcans dropped a 3-2 result in their Pacific West Conference opener on O’ahu at the Waipi’o Peninsula Soccer Stadium.
It was a tough battle for the Vulcans with the Sharks seemingly appearing at every opportunity to make a stop and keep Hawai’i Hilo in check.
In the 36th minute, HPU countered down the length of the field and Kota Fukunishi snuck a shot through the right side for the score. Later coming out of halftime, the Sharks managed to strike fast with a perfectly-placed cross from the right corner for Kelly Takara to head in for the 2-0 lead.
Vorkastner got the rally going by sniping in an olimpico goal off a corner kick from the left side to cut into the deficit with 20 minutes remaining. The pace never let up and just over five minutes later, Colby Lee drew a foul just outside the penalty area to set up the free-kick opportunity as Vorkastner buried it through the upper-right corner for the equalizer in the 77th minute.
However, with another five minutes’ time, HPU managed to find the back of the net for the game-winner by Jonathan Sorto.
Hawai’i Hilo moved to 0-1-0 in the PacWest (5-2-0 overall) while HPU moved to a 1-0-0 conference record (2-5-0 overall).
The Vulcans return to the Big Island for a four-game homestand hosting Academy of Art (Tuesday), Dominican (Sunday), Jessup (Oct. 12) and Menlo (Oct. 15).
Top four teams in the regular season standings will qualify for the first PacWest Conference Championships postseason tournament set for Nov. 14-16 at the Orange County Great Park in Irvine, Calif.
