Honolulu, HI (August 31, 2012) – The Hawai'i Pacific volleyball team (1-0) opened the season with a strong statement game against #24 Sonoma State (1-1) in the full five sets (26-24, 25-21, 14-25, 22-25, 15-10). The match was played at St. Andrew's Priory as a part of the Outrigger Hotels & Resorts HPU Challenge.
It was a very close match with HPU sneaking out two and four point wins in the first two sets. The Sea Warriors played their best offensive volleyball in the second set, hitting .306. Sonoma State caught fire in the third set with a .483 hitting percentage and then squeaked out a three point win of its own in the fourth. In the fifth set, SSU led 5-3 but then the Sea Warriors won eight of the next nine points to take control at 11-6. HPU clamped down on defense allowing a hitting percentage of just -.091 for the set. Overall, the match saw 24 ties and 11 lead changes.
It was HPU's strong play at the net that made the difference, HPU racked up 14 total blocks which lead to a .116 hitting percentage for SSU. Sophomores
Haley Doerfler and
Christina Furrer controlled the net, Doerfler had five block assists while Furrer had four block assists and three solo jobs. The SeaWolves managed just four total blocks.
The Sea Warriors hit .156 for the evening led by Doerfler who hit .333 while compiling eight kills.
Sanoe Recca had a team-high 17 kills while freshman
Amanda Moriarty had 10 in her Sea Warrior debut to go with 10 digs. Fellow freshman
Kasey Thompson had nine kills and helped serve notice that the heavy-handed freshman class will make an impact in 2012.
Pihanakealoha Kea had 40 assists to pace HPU; she also led the team with 17 digs. Just behind her were Recca and the new starting libero,
Chelsey Buyuan, each finished with 16.
HPU exacted a small amount of revenge on a SSU team that had beaten them the two previous times (both four sets) during the
Daryl Kapis Era, including last season.
HPU will play twice on Saturday, first against Montana State-Billings at 11 AM and then against Seattle Pacific at 7 PM, both at St. Andrew's Priory.
Box Score
