HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University closed the season with an exciting come-from-behind PacWest Conference victory, beating Fresno Pacific 3-2 on Saturday night in James Castle Gym at St. Andrew's Priory.
The Sharks (13-15, 12-10) took the triumph over the Sunbirds (7-24, 6-16) 14-25, 26-24, 23-25, 25-19, 15-6.
The Sharks hit just .175 with 8.0 team blocks, while FPU hit .206 for the match and recorded 9.0 team blocks.
Senior middle hitter
Carson Pyle of Houston, Texas/Memorial closed her career by leading the Sharks with 13 kills, a .267 attack percentage, four blocks and four aces against FPU. Sophomore Camryn Collie of El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge just missed a double-double with 11 kills and nine digs, while freshman
Lauren Christie of Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon tallied 10 kills with a .259 attack. Freshmen
Nicole Ferris of Woodstock, Ga./Etowah led HPU with five blocks.
The Sunbirds were paced by Mikayla Kennedy who collected 13 kills and a .462 attack percentage, while Carley Bock and Madison Pierce each chalked up 12 kills. Jaalyn Sotoa-Stuebing had nine kills with a game-high seven blocks.
Fresno Pacific came out looking to repay the Sharks for a 3-0 sweep back on Oct. 25, and the Sunbirds stunned HPU early. The Birds got a 6-1 run to go up 8-4 and added a 7-2 run to take firm control of the first set. Fresno Pacific closed on an 8-2 run, taking the final two points in the set on HPU errors to win 25-14.
The Sharks opened the second set with a service ace from freshman
Cara McClean of Beaverton, Ore./Southridge to key an 12-2 run. However this game was not a runaway for the Sharks. FPU rallied with a 9-3 run started on a Kennedy kill and capped by a Bock kill to pull within four at 15-11. The Sharks got it back to a 20-15 lead, but gave it up as FPU as the Sunbirds ran again 7-2 to tie the set at 22-all on a kill by Madison Pierce. The teams traded points to a 24-all tie before HPU used a kill by sophomore
Abigail Wilmington of Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River and a service ace by junior libero
Amanda Acosta of Exeter, Calif./Extra Union to take the set 26-24.
The Sharks had to overcome a five-point deficit to tie the third set at 20-all, had to rally to tie again at 23-23. The Sunbirds looked for an upset after a Shark attack error and a service ace from Greta Dobenecker to claim a 25-23 win and give FPU a 2-1 set lead.
HPU fell behind 12-7 in the fourth set when the Sharks made a comeback run. After a bad set by the Sunbirds, HPU got a Pyle kill to go on a 7-2 run to take a 15-14 lead on a Christie kill. Kennedy tied the set for FPU with a kill, then Pyle responded and started a 4-0 run with a kill and two service aces. HPU withstood a counter and closed the set with a 4-1 run and a 25-19 win on a kill by senior middle hitter
Chandler Lippincott of Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista.
The Sharks would not let the Sunbirds get close in the deciding set, opening with a 9-2 run that included a service ace by senior setter Mehea Pescaia of Kailua, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Kapalama and two aces from Collie. After trading a few points, the Sharks closed it out on a serve by senior defensive specialist
Kennedy Poligratis of Honolulu/Kamehameha-Kapalama for the 15-6 set and match win to end the season.
The Sharks ended the season in sixth place in the PacWest and bid aloha to seniors Pescaia, Pyle, Poligratis and Lippincott.
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