Box Score

Hilo, HI – ART U Volleyball looked for an inspired comeback after UH Hilo took the opening set Saturday night, but the end result was a 3-1 victory (25-18, 26-28, 25-23, 25-21) for the Vulcans inside their own UHH Gymnasium. The Urban Knights evened the match at one set apiece after winning the second 28-26 and hung tough the final two sets, led by double-digit kills from Taylor Suchy, Melissa Brum, and Lindsay Elgin.

ART U got out to a 5-1 lead right off the bat in the first set thanks to kills from Caitlin Boring and Elgin, but the Vulcans responded and soon tied things at 8-8. From there, the teams went back-and-forth until Hilo pulled ahead 20-15 on a 5-0 run, eventually taking an early lead on the 25-18 victory.

What would be a hard-fought second set saw a brief four-point advantage for Hilo midway through, but after a timeout, Academy of Art rallied back to tie 15-15. A 6-1 push to keep it close came with Kanoe Irvine serving and at one point Suchy delivering back-to-back kills from Rachael Smith. The teams once again traded points and soon stood at a 26-26 deadlock. Capitalizing on a Hilo service error and finishing it off with a Brum kill, ART U secured a 28-26 second set victory to even the score.

Saturday's dogfight continued into the third set where neither team could string together much momentum until the Knights used four kills by Suchy to go from being down 16-14 to ahead 19-17 rather quickly. The Vulcans, however, rebutted with 6-1 burst that brought them to 23-20 and eventually got them the set 25-23.

The fourth set was close until the end as the tandem of Kyndra Trevino-Scott and Marley Strand-Nicolaisen combined for nine of Hilo's 16 kills in the frame. Back-to-back kills by Boring forced a Vulcan timeout with the home team clutching a 21-20 lead. However, two kills by Callie Aberle and two from Allee Johnson shifted the momentum and closed out the night for UH Hilo with a 25-21 set victory.

In the end, the Knights were led by Suchy's 14 kills and 23 digs while the tandem of Elgin and Brum each had 11 kills apiece. Elgin hit .526 while Brum added 15 digs. Smith also offered a double-double, registering 51 assists and 10 digs. Irvine totaled 22 digs and Boring combined with Brittany Ulmer for 17 kills. ART U falls to 9-14 overall and 5-10 in PacWest play.

UH Hilo was led by 17 kills each for Strand-Nicolaisen and Trevino-Scott. It was 15 kills for Aberle and 47 assists for Sienna Davis. The Vulcans are now 7-10 overall, but just 2-10 in PacWest competition.

Academy of Art returns from its Hawaii roadtrip with Holy Names on the horizon (Nov. 6) then the final PacWest homestand on Nov. 8-9.