Volleyball drops season opener to Hawaii-Hilo in straight sets
September 5, 2013
Chris Brooks
907-474-6805
Hilo, Hawaii - Freshman Marley Strand-Nicolaisen registered a match-high 14 kills in her debut to lead the University of Hawaii at Hilo to a straight-set victory against the Alaska volleyball team on Thursday night at UHH Gymnasium.
The Vulcans (1-0) hit .229 (37-15-96) as a team while forcing the Nanooks (0-1) into 27 errors and a -.019 (25-27-105) attack clip. UHH was solid at the net, making 10 blocks as a team, to Alaska's three.
Rookie Kyndra Trevino-Scott also had an impressive first match with nine kills on just 11 swings to hit .818, leading all players in the match. Junior Callie Aberle chipped in eight terminations and 13 digs while freshman Sienna Davis led the offense with a match-high 29 assists.
For the Nanooks, sophomore outside hitter Sam Harthun (Oregon City, Ore./Art) led the way with a team-best 11 kills while junior middle blocker Morgan McGrath (Queen Creek, Ariz./Business Administration) had four kills and a pair of blocks. Freshman setter Katelyn Camp (Newton, Iowa/General Studies) played a nice match in her first college match with three dump kills, 13 assists and eight digs.
In the first set, with a 13-13 tie, four Alaska errors, three solid kills and an ace made way for eight in a row for the hosts and Hilo led 21-13. The Nanooks scored the next three but the Vulcans ended the set with a 25-18 win.
Leading 10-8, Hilo used another big run, this time by scoring seven of eight due in part to six Nanook blunders and UHH led 17-9. Alaska rallied due to four errors by Hilo, leading to a 5-0 run that closed the deficit to 17-14. But three kills and two Alaska errors put Hawai'i-Hilo's lead back to eight at 22-14. It would go on to win the second 25-16.
In a match that was won by big runs by Hilo, the home team once again used a string of points to break away. Trailing 8-7 to Alaska, UHH scored 10 of 11 to go up 17-9 with a mix of big kills and Alaska errors. The Nanooks never came closer than five as Hilo closed out the match by the score of 25-17.
Alaska returns to action Friday night at 7:30 p.m. (Hawaiian) when they face No. 5 BYU-Hawaii. The Seasiders (1-0) swept Alaska Anchorage tonight, by set scores of 25-22, 25-17 and 25-18. Tune into live audio action on Stretch Internet beginning at 7:20 p.m. for the pregame show. Live stats and live video will also be available.