HONOLULU – After dropping the first two matches in the Hawai'i Classic, West Virginia State's volleyball team (2-2, 0-0 Mountain East) bounced back to take down the University of Hawaii at Hilo (3-4, 0-0 Pac West) and Hawaii Pacific (0-4, 0-0 Pac West) on Saturday.
WVSU head coach Hillary Hurley picked up her first career win as head coach against her alma mater, Hawaii-Hilo.
"I'm so proud of the fighting spirit the team showed in today's win. We had a tough start to the trip but they never gave up and showed a lot of maturity and grit. I'm proud that this was my first career win with this team and many more to come," said Hurley.
Match 1: WVSU 3, Hawaii-Hilo 1
State fell behind early in set one when the Vulcans went on a 4-0 run, 8-5. WVSU responded when Peri Martin served six consecutive points, forcing a Hawaii-Hilo timeout, 11-8. Neither team served more than two points for the rest of the set until Alex Darby rattled off five straight, with two kills by Kaitlyn Cabral, a kill each from Kirsten Eggleton and Larisa Lehtoranta and a Vulcan attack error to give State set point. A Vulcan kill broke the serve but Valencia Wilder slam on the subsequent point gave State the 1-0 lead.
Cabral had four of State's 15 kills in the set. State held the Vulcans to a .050 hitting percentage and successfully returned all 18 of the Vulcans' serves.
The second set was much closer between the two teams. Cabral and Peri Martin each served three straight points early in the set, followed by another round of Cabral servesGiving State a 13-9 lead. The Vulcans clawed their way back, setting up a four-point sprint with the two teams locked at 21-all. A Vulcan service error and a kill each by Young and Boby Moleni gave State set point, 24-21. Two points later, Lehtoranta slammed the ball to the court and State was up two sets to none.
Moleni had five kills in the set. The Yellow Jackets again outhit their competitor in the set, this time by a .263-.108 spread.
Hilo was not to be denied in set three, racing out to a 7-0 lead before Young was able to break the Vulcans' serve. The Vulcans extended their lead to as much as 14 points in the set at 22-8 but Martin, Wilder and Davis served absolute blinders going on a 12-3 run to end the set, but the deficit was too much for State and the Vulcan's grabbed set three 25-20.
State had four serve receive errors in the set, but still outhit Hawaii Hilo, .167-.147. Young and Moleni each had four of State's 10 slams in the set.
Wilder tied the fourth set up at 9-all and then State turned on the jets, closing the set and match on a 16-5 run with Wilder serving four points beginning with her set-tying kill. Ashlynne Davis then served four straight with a service ace, a kill by Moleni and a kill by Cabral. Darby then closed the match serving the final eight points starting with a Vulcan service error, and ending with two Hilo attack errors.
Eggleton was a dig shy of having her first double-double of the season, assisting on 23 State attacks and digging out nine Vulcan attacks. Moleni was also a dig shy of a double-double with 14 kills and nine digs. Young had 13 kills and Cabral had 10 kills, seven digs. Darby had 24 digs as the back-liner.
Match 2: WVSU 3, HPU 0
The first set of the final Hawai'i Challenge match for State was far and beyond the most exciting, featuring 15 ties and 10 lead changes. The final tie score of the set came courtesy of an Eggleton slam, tying the score at 20-all. Davis then served three straight with a block by Lehtoranta and Eggleton forcing a Sharks timeout. The two teams traded the final four points of the match with a Cabral kill to end it, giving State the 25-22 set one victory.
Both teams had 12 kills in the set, but State had five attack errors to Hawaii Pacific's 10. Young and Cabral had three kills each for State.
The second set was tied at 12-12 when Cabral stepped to the service line and three kills and a rotation violation by HPU later, State held a 17-13 lead. The Sharks attempted a late run in the set with five straight kills but an attack error cut that short, giving State a 21-19 lead. A few traded points later at 24-22, Cabral put away her fifth kill of the match and State went up two sets to none.
Again the teams matched kill totals with 16 kills for each but two service aces by State and one extra attack error by the Sharks was the difference in the set. Moleni had five kills for State.
The third set featured just one tie, 5-5, but State slowly grinded and pulled away from the Sharks with three separate 3-0 runs by Cabral, Darby, and Eggleton and a kill by newcomer Hannah Steele set up by Martin closed out the match, giving State their first sweep of the season.
State had their best hitting mark of the season at .315. Eggleton picked up her first double-double of the season with 22 assists and 10 kills. Young and Cabral both hit double-digit kills with 13 and 10, respectively. Darby had 20 digs from the back line.
WVSU will play in the Mount Olive Invitational next weekend and will start with matches against Shaw and the University of Mount Olive on Friday, Sept. 8. First serve for the Shaw match is at 1:00 pm, while the Mount Olive match is scheduled for 5:00 pm.
