Box Score
HILO, Hawaii – The University of Hawaii Hilo volleyball team downed visiting Montana State Billings Saturday evening in the final game of the Vulcan Challenge, 3-1 (14-25, 25-20, 19-25, 18-25). With the loss, the Yellowjackets fell to 0-4 on the year, while UHH improved to 3-1.
The Jackets were led by a double-double from Jen Boe as she led the team with 16 kills and added 12 digs. Morgan Moss led with a game-high 21 digs. Brooke Tolman added 33 assists.
UHH had three players with double-digit kills and were led by Kawena Cubi-Otineru with a game-high 18 kills. Hillary Hurley added 14 kills and Rachael Thornquist chipped in 12. Katie Swenson led the game with 37 assists.
The Vulcans used an 8-3 run to break a 6-6 tie early in the first set for a 14-9 advantage. From there, UHH won 11 of the final 16 points for a 25-14 win.
In set two, the Yellowjackets evened things up after the Vulcans jumped out to an early 9-2 lead. A run of 9-0 by MSUB gave the Jackets an 11-9 lead capped with a service run of seven consecutive points by Boe.
The Vulcans regained the lead, but Moss, Tolman and Hannah Johnson each had consecutive serves which gave MSUB some breathing room at 18-15. Late in the set, Adrienne Kelso and Boe severed out the match for a 25-20 win.
The Jackets played their best in set two, hitting a game-high .297 with 15 kills and four errors, while the Vulcans struggled with just eight kills and eight errors.
Set three saw both teams battle back-and-forth with neither team getting much of a lead until late in the set. MSUB led by as many as four (10-6) early on, but the home team came back and tied it at 15 with a 9-5 run and then closed the set with a 10-4 run.
UHH used an 8-3 run to break a 10-10 tie in set for and went on for a 25-18 victory to close the match with a 3-1 win.
The Yellowjackets will stay on the islands and travel to Oahu for matches next week against the four NCAA Division II Hawaii schools. The Jackets open the second week of play Thursday at 7:30 p.m. Hawaii time at BYU-Hawaii. MSUB will look for revenge next week versus both Hawaii Hilo and Hawaii Pacific and will play at Chaminade.
MSUB then returns home to host Northwest Nazarene and Central Washington, Sept. 16 and Sept. 18, respectively in the first weekend of Great Northwest Athletic Conference play. Both games are at 7 p.m. in Alterowitz Gymnasium and will be webcast and live stats.
