HONOLULU — Hawai'i Pacific University dropped its first PacWest Conference match of the season on Friday night as a determined Dixie State rallied to beat the Sharks 3-2 in James Castle Gym at St. Andrew's Priory.
 
The Sharks (4-7, 2-1) fell to the Trailblazers (3-7, 1-1) 25-21, 25-27, 25-22, 23-25, 8-15.
 
"You have to give a lot of credit to Dixie State, they came through when they needed to the most," said head coach Jenic Tumaneng. "We had our chances to win tonight, but made too many mistake at the end. We just have to put this behind us and roll on."                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
 
The Sharks were stung by the one that got away, as HPU led 12-1 to start the second set and was serving set point at 25-24 only to fall 27-25. Then in the fourth HPU let a 22-18 and 23-21 lead slip through for Dixie to win 25-23.
 
Thanks in part to a horrible fifth set, HPU hit just .186 for the match with 4.0 team blocks. Dixie State recorded a .238 hitting percentage after rebounding from a .033 first set. The Trailblazers also chalked up 6.5 team blocks.
 
The Sharks were paced by the play of freshman outside hitter Cameryn Collie of El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge, who posted her first collegiate 20-kill performance by notching 24 kills with a .308 attack percentage. Junior right side hitter Kayla Demari of Dana Point, Calif./JSerra Catholic, posted 12 kills and four blocks.
 
HPU was without the services of sophomore outside hitter Perla Escobar of Calexico, Calif./Calexico, who missed the match due to injury.
 
Dixie State was keyed by the play of Lauren Gammell who tallied 21 kills, a .487 hitting percentage and five blocks in the comeback win. Hannah Doonan chalked up 16 kills with 17 digs.
 
HPU took the first set 25-21, but it was a harbinger of things to come. The Sharks built an 18-12 advantage, then saw Dixie State chop the lead to 20-19 before HPU went on a 3-0 run and finish strong.
 
The swing in the match came in the second set. With both teams gaining a point to start, HPU went on an 11-0 run behind the serving of junior libero Kennedy Poligratis of Honolulu/Kamehameha-Kapalama. Not to be outdone, the Trailblazers answered with a 10-0 run of their own to pull within two at 13-11.
 
The Sharks battled to a 20-17 advantage, only to see Dixie go on a 4-0 run to take the lead. The teams swapped points to tie at 23-all. The Blazers got the next point to serve game point, when the Sharks answered with kills by Collie and Carson Pyle to lead 25-24. But DSU fought off the game-winner and claimed the next three points to swipe the second set 27-25.
 
Set three found the Sharks up 19-13 when the Trailblazers made a run and closed to within a point at 23-22. But a Dixie attack error setup a Collie service ace for a 25-22 win and a 2-1 set advantage for the Sharks.
 
The fourth set proved to be the heartbreaker for HPU. Both the Sharks and Dixie State went on runs to tie the match at 17-all before a 5-1 HPU run gave the home team a 22-18 lead. Dixie posted a 3-0 run following a timeout making it 22-21. The Sharks used their last time out and followed it with a kill from Jade Gillespie to hold a 23-21 advantage. But a long rally on the next point went the Blazers' way and keyed a 4-0 run capped by two Gammell kills that stunned HPU 25-23.
 
HPU and DSU swapped the lead in the first nine points of the final set with the Sharks up 5-4. But a 4-0 Trailblazer run put the Sharks behind the eight-ball at 8-5, and a Gillespie kill brought HPU back to trailing 8-6. Unfortunately that was as close as they would get. Dixie State answered with a 4-0 runs to start the 7-2 finish of the set for a 15-8 win and the comeback win in the match.
 
The Sharks must quickly put the loss behind them as they return to the hardwood Saturday evening for a 6 p.m. PacWest Conference match against Academy of Art in Castle Gym.