HILO, Hawai'i  – Hawai'i Pacific University opened the 20 on18 volleyball season on the down side Friday, falling to UC San Diego 3-1 and to Saint Cloud State 3-0 in the 2018 First Hawaiian Bank Volleyball Classic at the UHH Gymnasium.
 
The Sharks (0-2) won their first set before falling to UCSD (1-0) 25-23, 26-28, 18-25, 20-25 in the first game of the day. HPU then fell to SCSU (1-1) 16-25, 13-25, 13-25 to end their day.
 
In the first contest, HPU was led by junior Perla Escobar of Calexico, Calif./Calexico, with 11 kills, while senior Carson Pyle of Houston, Texas/Memorial posting 10 kills with a .400 hitting percentage and four blocks and sophomore Camryn Collie of El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge added 10 kills.
 
UCSD got 16 kills and a .406 attack from Cindy Tran, with Gina Cortesi adding 10 kills. Allison Tiegs chipped in four blocks.
 
After winning the first set in the opener against the Tritons, HPU battled tough in the second. HPU was down 23-19 and used a 6-1 run to take a 25-24 advantage before falling 28-26. The Tritons took the next two sets without allowing an HPU lead.
 
Against St. Cloud, HPU hit just .031 for the match, while the Huskies posted a .380 team attack.
 
The Sharks were led by sophomore Sierra Piester of Carlsbad, Calif./Tri-City Christian, with five kills with a .400 attack and a block. Escobar recorded three kills.
 
Linsey Rachel led the Huskies with 13 kills and hit .407 with two blocks. Micah Nier hit .500 with nine kills and two blocks, as Abby Templin posted nine kills with a .412 attack.
 
Late Friday night, the remainder of the tournament was canceled due to the extreme flooding in the Hilo area caused by rainfall generated by Hurricane Lane.