HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University chalked up its first win of the season on Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over Colorado-Colorado Springs in the Hawai'i Challenge at James Castle Gymnasium at St. Andrew's Priory. HPU lost an earlier match on Saturday to No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney 3-0.
 
HPU (1-2) downed UCCS (0-3) 20-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-22 in the hard fought match.
 
"This was a good win for us," said HPU coach Jenic Tumaneng. "This tournament features some tough competition to start the season, so a win is great. We started slowly, but we stayed with it and were successful in the end."
 
HPU outhit the Mountain Lions .258 to .230, culminating with a .571 hitting percentage in the fourth and final set.
 
Sophomore Perla Escobar of Calexico, Calif./Calexico, led the way for the Sharks with 17 kills. Freshman Jade Gillespie of Los Gatos, Calif./Valley Christian tallied eight kills and led the team with a .462 hitting percentage, while sophomore Kayla Demari of Dana Point, Calif./JSerra Catholic added eight kills as well.
 
UCCS got 19 kills from Taylor Hamilton and 12 kills from Alyssa Brinton who also tallied three blocks.
 
In the earlier match on Saturday, the Sharks stayed close with No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney before falling in straight sets 18-25, 17-25, 20-25.
 
The Lopers hit a powerful .418 as a team, while HPU recorded a .188 hitting percentage.
 
Escobar paced the Sharks with 10 kills, while Demari added seven.
 
The Lopers got 14 kills from Tara Ziegelbein who hit an amazing .765 against HPU. Kaitlynn Thomas added 11 kills for UNK.
 
The tournament concludes Sunday with the Sharks hosting No. 8 Lewis (Ill.) in a 5 p.m. match at the Priory. A featured match between No. 3 Nebraska-Kearney and No. 8 Lewis is slated for noon at Castle Gym.