Dixie State was what the University of Hawaii at Hilo thought it was.
The Lady Vulcans were, too, until their passing went astray, leading to their fifth consecutive loss, 25-20, 19-25, 25-21, 28-26 on Friday night before 150 fans at their gym.
“This is getting old,” coach Tino Reyes said. “We had a chance, but we had a breakdown in passing.”
And it came at a critical juncture as the Vulcans (4-10, 3-8 Pacific West Conference) looked primed to extend the match to a fifth set.
The Vuls had one set point erased by a Kendahl Weiland kill. After the set was tied for a 12th time, the Red Storm (13-6, 10-1) walked away with the win on attack errors by Callie Aberle and Marley Strand-Nicolaisen.
“Three of the key points lost were because of passing errors,” Reyes said.
“This team kind of teases you. They show you what they can be, and then the ugly head shows up.”
Aberle led the way with 21 kills on .306 hitting, while Strand-Nicolaisen notched 10 kills and 10 errors, adding 17 digs.
Reyes was more interested in talking about his team’s passing.
“If we don’t pass, Marley has to hit the ball out of system,” he said. “Callie had good numbers, but her passing was atrocious.”
Kyndra Trevino-Scott added 12 kills.
Weiland finished with 19 kills and Maddie Rex added 13 for Dixie State, which won the hitting battle .247-.201. Nicole Koehler notched seven kills and seven blocks. The Red Storm, second in the PacWest, held a 12-5 advantage in blocks.
“They played good for long periods of time, but they’re not physically imposing,” Reyes said.
The Vulcans play their third match in three days when they host Azusa Pacific (11-8, 7-3) at 4:30 p.m. Saturday.