IRVINE, Calif. — Hawai'i Pacific University took the top team in the PacWest to the limit on Saturday evening, but it was Concordia Irvine claiming a 3-2 conference victory at the CUI Arena.
 
The Sharks (15-11, 11-6) dropped their second straight match on the southern California road trip but remain fourth in the PacWest standings. The Eagles (25-2, 16-2) kept their one-match lead in the standings with the 21-25, 26-24, 12-25, 25-23, 15-11 victory.
 
Senior outside hitter Pomai Recca of Waimanalo, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama, led all players with 25 kills in the match to go with 12 digs and three blocks as she it .339. Recca posted her fourth 25-plus kill match of the season, her seventh 20-plus kill match and her 18th double-double in 26 matches of the season.
 
Freshman outside hitter Perla Escobar of Calexico, Calif./Calexico, added 11 kills. Freshman rightsider hitter Alison McCollum of LaCanada, Calif./Flintridge Sacred Hearts and junior Lea Felton of Sacramento, Calif./St. Francis, each tallied nine kills with Felton hitting .412 with six blocks.
 
Concordia's Rachel Flynn notched 21 kills with a .327 hitting percentage with two blocks. Ellie Ladensack added 13 kills with four blocks. Amber Rose led both teams with nine blocks.
 
HPU opened the match well, trailing only at 1-0 in the first set before opening a 14-9 lead and extending it to 21-14 when CUI rallied late. The Sharks held on for a 25-21 win.
 
Set two was a heartbreaker for the Sharks. HPU built a 14-9 advantage only to have the Eagles counter with a 4-0 run and later add a 3-0 run to tie the set at 17-all. HPU rebuilt the lead to 19-19 another CUI 3-0 swung the set the Eagles way. The Sharks recovered to tie the set at 24-all on a Felton kill, but Concordia got a kill from Flynn and a block from Morgan Nunley and Kyra Auten to swipe the set 26-24.
 
HPU never trailed in taking the third set 25-12. The Sharks collected a pair of 5-0 runs in runs of 7-1 and 8-1 that kept the Eagles on their heels. A kill from Escobar ended the third set with plenty of HPU momentum.
 
CUI charged out to a 14-6 lead in the fourth set when the Sharks made a comeback. HPU rallied with an 11-2 run to take the lead 17-16. The Eagles countered with a 5-0 run before the Sharks followed with a 4-0 run to even the set at 21-all. The teams traded points to 23-23 when CUI's Hannah Andrews got a kill followed by a Shark attack error gave the Eagles the set 25-23.
 
The Eagles jumped out to a 5-3 lead in the deciding set when HPU rallied on a 5-0 run to go to the side exchange up 8-5 on a block by Felton and Escobar. CUI answered with a 3-0 run to even the set and the teams again exchanged points to a 10-10 tie. That's when Concordia used a pair of Ladensack kills to key a 5-1 to win the set and match 15-11.
 
The Sharks close out the road trip on Monday at California Baptist, who is currently a game behind Concordia in the PacWest race. First serve is set for 5 p.m. HST (7 p.m. PST) at Van Dyne Gym in Riverside, Calif.