HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University closed its best season in 14 years in high style be sweeping Holy Names in straight sets in PacWest Conference play on Senior Night at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (19-11, 15-7) celebrated their seniors by beating the Hawks (3-24, 2-19) 25-19, 25-18, 25-18, to post the most victories since winning the PacWest Conference with a 24-3 record in 2005.
 
The Sharks hit .198 for the match but dominated at the net with 12 team blocks. Holy Names hit just .018 with two team blocks in the three sets.
 
Senior Perla Escobar of Calexico, Calif./Calexico, led HPU with 17 kills, a .441 attack percentage and picked up five blocks, while just missing a double-double with nine digs. Sophomore Makenna Gambee of Hillsboro, Ore./Hillsboro added four kills on eight attempts with no errors and led the match with six blocks. Senior Kayley Mohr of Tuscon, Ariz./Ironwood Ridge, chalked up 18 assists and ended the match with a service ace. Senior Amanda Acosta of Exeter, Calif./Extra Union posted 14 digs and two assists, while senior Natalie Gibbs recorded three blocks in the contest.
 
The Hawks were paced by Lauren Sera and Mariah Leal who both recorded eight kills with a block.
 
The Sharks came out of the gate slowly, with emotions running strong as all four seniors started the match and played a significant amount of time. The Hawks jumped out to the lead as the Sharks tied the set seven times and swapped the lead with HNU twice before getting down to business after falling behind 14-12 on a bad set. A Hawk service error kicked HPU into gear and started an 8-0 run thanks in part to three straight Gambee blocks and a service ace from freshman Adara Whitney of Mill Valley, Calif./Tamalpais for a 20-14 lead. Holy Names responded with a 3-0 run to pull within three at 20-17, but the Sharks started swapping scores with a double-block from senior Gibbs and sophomore Kirah Boynton-Brown of Vancouver, Wash./Union closing the set 25-19.
 
The second set had HNU jumping out to a 2-0 lead before the Sharks roared back on a 6-0 run that accounted for the only tie and lead change of the set. HPU went up 6-2 on a block by Gambee and the Hawks never really got back in it. The Sharks opened up an 11-point 23-12 lead, but the Hawks had a bit left going on a 5-0 run to get to 23-17. An Escobar kill put HPU at set point and after a pair of Hawk points a Holy Names service error gave the Sharks the set win 25-18.
 
In the final frame, HNU won the first point before HPU tallied a 6-1 run to lead 6-2 on a block by Gibbs. The Hawks clawed back to within three twice, only to see the Sharks respond as the senior played together as a unit for most of the rest of the set. A kill from Boynton-Brown and a block from Escobar and Boynton-Brown keyed a 7-1 run that put HPU up 19-12. The Sharks and Hawks would exchange points until HPU had the service up 24-18. Mohr, on the final serve of her collegiate career, delivered a story-book ace to take the set and match 25-18.
 
The Sharks celebrated the achievements of the four seniors that included recognizing Acosta in the 1,000 dig club with 1,518 career digs to rank second in program history. The Sharks also honored Escobar for getting into the 1,000 kill club with 1,127 career kills and into the 1,000 dig club with 1,048 career digs.
 
The Sharks season comes to a close with the victory that guarantees HPU no worse than a fourth place finish in the PacWest – the best since 2016.