HONOLULU – The Hawaii Pacific University volleyball team hosted Azusa Pacific University Saturday night for their final home Pacwest conference matchup in the Shark Tank. HPU celebrated senior night, while battling hard, eventually falling 3-0 to APU

The Sharks (2-19, 2-13 Pacwest) will finish their season on the road, while the Cougars (14-12, 10-7 Pacwest) finish their trip to Hawaii, 2-1.
 
Azusa jumped ahead early with a lead of 7-1. However, the Sharks were resilient, as they battled back to tie the game up at 16-16. The team exchanged points until it was a 21-20 lead in favor of the Cougars. APU then closed out the first set with a 4-1 run, winning 25-22. 

Set two saw the same thing as set one, an early lead for the Cougars, as they went up 13-7. However HPU then outscored APU 12-4, taking a lead in the second set, 19-17. This giant run caused a timeout to come from the Azusa bench. The brief pause worked well for the Cougars as they were able to regain control, and use the momentum to take the second set, 25-21. 
 
After a tough start in the third set, the Sharks found a spark to keep them in the game as they only trailed 15-13. HPU then brought their deficit to only 21-19 before APU closed out the third set and game with a 4-1 run. 
 
Senior middle blocker Demi Winters led the team with 11 kills and junior outside hitter Ella Dotson trailed right behind her with nine kills. The dynamic setting duo of sophomore setter Pua Beazley and graduate setter Maile Powell had 18 and 13 assists a piece. Graduate outside hitter Riley Gill, along with Beazley, led the team with ten digs each, while senior libero Makenzie Fa'amausili-Cacoulidis had nine digs.  

The Sharks celebrated their five seniors: Maile Powell, Makenzie Fa'amusili-Cacoulidis, Caroline Gomes, Riley Gill, and Demi Winters were all recognized for their on-and-off the court leadership and effort.
 
The Hawaii Pacific University volleyball team will finish up the regular season on the road. Their first matchup will be right here in Honolulu, as they will be visiting the Chaminade University Silverswords on November 2, with first serve set for 7:00 p.m. HT.