Box Score ELLENSBURG, WA (September 6, 2014) – The Hawai'i Pacific Volleyball Team (1-3) once again had a highly ranked opponent on the ropes but was unable to finish. HPU lost to #16 Sonoma State (2-1) in five sets (25-23, 23-25, 14-25, 25-23, 17-19) in the final game of the Hampton Inn Wildcat Volleyball Invitational hosted by Central Washington.

The Sharks won't be upset to see this tournament end, HPU narrowly lost to three teams ranked in the top 16 nationally. With a few different bounces, the Sharks could be 4-0 and themselves be in consideration for the rankings. Saturday's match was as close as a match can be, featuring 31 ties and eight lead changes.

HPU and SSU traded 25-23 scores in the first two sets. The Sea Wolves controlled the third set before the Sharks took the fourth by the familiar score of 25-23.

The Sharks trailed 3-0 right out of the gate in the fifth set; however HPU rebounded to tie the set at five on an ace from Kasey Thompson. The match went back and forth from there with ties at 7, 13, 14, 15, 16, and 17. Every time HPU would tie the score, SSU would match the point. Pomai Recca's kill tied the match at 17 but a subsequent HPU service error and SSU kill ended the match.

Recca was huge for the Sharks totaling 20 kills to go with 16 digs. The rest of the HPU attack was balanced with 11 kills for Thompson, 10 for Haley Doerfler, nine from Elizabeth Culpepper, and eight from Christina Furrer. Tenika Wentworth put up 46 assists while compiling 13 digs. Amanda Moriarty had a game-high 24 kills while Kara Wong pitched in 15.

HPU will get another opportunity to pull an upset on Tuesday when the Sharks visit #12 Western Washington.