Box Score SAN FRANCISCO, CA (October 2, 2014) – The Hawai'i Pacific Volleyball Team (4-6, 2-2) defeated Academy of Art (8-6, 3-3) in four sets to open the Bay Area road trip. HPU lost the first set, but rebounded with three consecutive victories to win the match (17-25, 25-18, 25-19, 25-20).

The Sharks may have suffered from a bit of jet lag in the first set as the home team jumped to an early lead and won the set with little resistance.

The second set looked like more of the same for HPU as Art U grabbed 4-0 and 6-3 leads. HPU battled back with four consecutive points, powered by Kasey Thompson's three kills, to seize the lead. HPU continued to work and ultimately broke the will of the Urban Knights. Two consecutive kills from Haley Doerfler made it 21-15 and ended any suspense.

HPU poured it on in the third set opening up 6-0, 10-4 and 12-6 leads. Art U briefly took a 14-13 lead but a 7-1 Sharks' run ended any dreams of a comeback.

The fourth set also saw a hot start from HPU. An 8-0 run turned a 3-2 deficit into a commanding lead. The lead eventually grew to 21-8 as HPU coasted to victory.

"It was a good building block for us to start on this road trip with a solid win," said senior Doerfler.

California native Elizabeth Culpepper registered a team-high 13 kills, Thompson (12) and Pomai Recca (11) also earned double-figure kills. Freshman Tenika Wentworth was in control of the offense, dropping 39 dimes. Four Sharks reached double-digits in digs led by Wentworth's 16; she was followed by Thompson (15), Amanda Moriarty (14) and Kara Wong (10).  

The Sharks now head to Fresno to play the Sunbirds tomorrow at 7:00 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.