ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Hawai'i Pacific University ended its season-opening skid by beating Western Oregon in five sets on Friday evening in the Central Washington-Seattle Pacific Invitational at CWU's Nicholson Pavilion.
 
The Sharks (1-5) outlasted the Wolves (2-4) 16-25, 25-23, 25-22, 16-25, 15-10 in the match that took two hours and 14 minutes to play.
 
HPU recorded its best hitting performance of the season, posting a .137 attack percentage with 6.0 team blocks. WOU hit .127 for the match, but recorded 10.0 team blocks.
 
The Sharks got a boost from newcomer Caroline Gomes, a junior transfer from Sao Paulo, Brazil/Amorium via Otero JC. Gomes led HPU with 13 kills and double-doubled by adding 11 digs. Senior Nicole Ferris of Woodstock, Ga./Etowah hit .269 with 11 kills and three blocks. Sophomore Ella Dotson of Tucson, Ariz./Marana added eight kills.
 
Western Oregon was paced by Isabel Hurliman who double-doubled with 17 kills and 14 digs, and led the team with five blocks. Bailee Hartsook double-doubled with 14 kills and 14 digs, while Emily Olson and Makenzie York both contributed five blocks.
 
The Sharks let the first set get by them 25-16 and trailed from the get go.
 
But in the second set, HPU jumped out to the early lead, fought off the Wolves through six ties and a lead change. Tied at 23-all, HPU took advantage of an attack error before junior Makenzie Fa'amusili-Cacoulidis of Honolulu/Sacred Hearts gave the Sharks the 25-23 win with a service ace.
 
The Sharks fought back from a 14-8 disadvantage and pulled even at 21-all after being down 21-16 to WOU. The Sharks tied the set during a 7-0 run and finished on a 9-1 stretch to go up 2-1 in sets.
 
Western Oregon wouldn't go down easily, overcoming an early deficit with an 8-3 run on the way to a 25-16 set four victory.
 
In the deciding set, the Wolves got the first point before HPU took the next six for an early 6-1 lead. The Sharks played steady the rest of the set and built a commanding 12-5 advantage. Ferris gave the Sharks their first win of the season when she put down the final kill to put HPU on top 15-10.
 
The Sharks change venues to complete the CWU-SPU Invitational on Saturday, going to Brougham Pavilion to meet host Seattle Pacific at 8 a.m. HST (11 a.m. PDT). They'll close the event Saturday night at 5 p.m. HST (8 p.m. PDT) against Simon Fraser at Brougham.