HILO — Down 2-0 in the match and looking at possibly being swept, Southern Arkansas University grabbed momentum by the throat and fought past the University of Hawaii at Hilo 23-25, 14-25, 27-25, 25-21, 15-5 on Friday night.
The collegiate women’s volleyball match was held before about 150 fans at UH-Hilo gym.
The NCAA Division II Muleriders (3-2) and Vulcans (0-5) play a rematch at 4 p.m. today at UH-Hilo.
It was a difficult loss to swallow for the Vulcans, who outplayed the visiting Muleriders throughout the first 2 1/2 games of the marathon match. But with victory in doubt, SAU stepped up late in Game 3 and made the clutch plays to extend the match. Then in Games 4 and 5, the athletic Muleriders outplayed the Vulcans and pulled away to win.
“We didn’t focus on the last part of the third game and it cost us,” UH-Hilo coach Tino Reyes said. “They seized momentum and didn’t give it back. In the fourth and fifth games, they won the serve-pass game and outplayed us. I was disappointed how we responded the fifth game.
“It’s a difficult loss, but it’s something we’ve got to learn from. We’ll watch the game film at 9 in the morning and try to improve when we play them in the afternoon.”
The Vulcans controlled the first two games before the Muleriders awoke from an emotional funk and spread the offensive firepower around while picking up their defense. The visitors finished with an impressive 86 digs compared to the host’s 63 to go along with eight service aces.
And in Games 4 and 5, SAU finally relaxed and started to pound the volleyball over the smaller UH-Hilo block — led by 5-foot-10 senior Courtney Smith, 5-8 junior Denise De Vine, 5-10 junior Courtney Geesing and 6-0 junior Cambria Martin who finished the match with 21, 15, eight and seven kills, respectively.
Bria Morgan, a 5-11 freshman outside hitter from Soquel, Calif., led UH-Hilo with a match-high 21 kills but she also had 18 errors in a whopping 77 swings, hitting just .039.
“Bria has always been the big hitter for her team, but for us she’s got to learn how to keep the ball in play more and make the other team make the plays,” Reyes said. “We need her to make better decisions. Tonight, she had 21 kills and 18 errors — that means only plus-three for us.”
Once the Muleriders figured out that Morgan was the main sister in the Vulcans’ attack, they frustrated her the rest of the evening with double blocks and a hustling defense that picked up almost every UH-Hilo shot in the final two games.
Olivia Lane, a 6-1 sophomore middleblocker, followed Morgan with eight kills with three errors in 31 attempts, a .161 hitting percentage. Senior Patty Vine-Snel added seven kills in 39 swings on a tough night for the UH-Hilo offense, which hit .093 for the match while SAU hit .164.
Klaire Blasco Vine, a junior setter, led the Muleriders’ attack with 46 assists and chipped in with 14 digs. She is the younger sister of UH-Hilo’s Vine-Snel, and their mother watched the match last night in her first trip to Hilo. It’s the first time the sisters have ever played against each other.
Freshman Jolie Au, out of Kaiser High School on Oahu, led the Vulcan offense with 34 assists and had 14 digs, including three or four diving saves that kept the ball in play and gave UH-Hilo a chance at scoring. Vine-Snel followed in the dig department with 12, while senior Melissa Chavez and sophomore libero Kelia Parrilla each had 11. Chavez also had a team-high three service aces.
Defensive specialist Lauren Woods led SAU’s defense with a match-high 22 digs. DeVine had 18, Vine 14 and Geesing 12.
The Vulcans held a 10-5 advantage in blocks. Lane recorded a match-high seven, and Morgan had five. Martin led SAU with three.
