Box Score
Irvine, CA - During the course of a season, teams face a variety of challenges and regardless of how good a team might be, the game will put them in situations where they will either figure out how to get it done, or fall to the pressure. Tonight was one of those nights for Concordia Volleyball as they faced off with the Vulcans of the University of Hawai'i at Hilo.
What started out as a seemingly easy path to a sweep turned into a wild ride that, just as easily, could have become the first road loss of the season for the Eagles. But, on this night, when faced with that situation, CUI did not succumb, finding the two points they really needed at the moment it counted the most, closing out the Vulcans 16-14 in the fifth set.
The visiting Eagles blasted out of the gates, leaving Hilo in their wake on the way to 25-7 1st set win.
The second set started out similarly with a 6-2 CUI lead but the home team began to make it apparent that this night may not end as quickly as some might have thought. UH forged into a tie at 12 and again at 13 and 14 before a burst from Concordia pushed the lead back to 18-14. From there, CUI held off the Vulcans enroute to a final score of 25-21.
Then, it was as if someone hit the "re-start" button and the reboot was clearly in favor of the home team. The Vulcans came out inspired and aggressive, pushing to a 9-4 advantage and, just as quickly, the Eagles found themselves without any consistent answers. Hilo maintained at least a four-point margin the rest of the way to the 25-19 win.
Concordia tried to right the ship in the fourth and seemed to be on-track with a 10-6 lead. But six unforced errors by the Eagles helped fuel a 10-1 Hilo run and stifled any hope that CUI had of getting out with the 3-1 win.
The fifth set was a microcosm of the match as both teams found themselves with leads and deficits through nine ties and six lead changes in the short game to 15 points. Kills from four different Concordia attackers kept the Eagles on the front side of the score until the teams switched with CUI leading 8-7. But, like their five-set heartbreaker to Cal Baptist just 5 days earlier, Concordia could not hold the lead. With the help of four unforced errors the Vulcans pushed ahead on a 6-3 run and found themselves ahead 13-11 and on the verge of the huge comeback win.
Just over a year ago, most of this same team arrived in Hawaii for their first PacWest road swing to the islands and, four days later, got on the return flight with two losses in hand.
A year later there is something different about this team.
A time-out by Coach
Paula Weishoff, a kill by
Rachel Flynn, and two monumental blocks (
Amber Rose and
Ellie Ladensack, Rose and
Hannah Andrews) quickly turned the tide, putting the Eagles back in the lead 14-13. An Eagle miscue knotted the score again and then, in the moment where it was just about finding two points, senior
Hannah Andrews stepped up to the plate and knocked it out of the park. Andrews hammered home her next two opportunities to seal the victory, netting the Eagles their first win on Hawaiian soil since entering the PacWest. Andrews finished with a match high .324 hitting percentage and 12 kills on 34 swings and only one error on the night.
Senior
Taylor Dennison led all players with 24 digs in the match while
Rachel Flynn had a match high 17 kills to go along with 14 digs for another double-double.
Ellie Ladensack also finished the night in double-digit kills (13).
Concordia (17-2 overall, 8-2 PacWest) will make the quick flight to Oahu Friday morning where they will enjoy a day off before facing BYU-Hawaii Saturday (10:30pm PST) and Chaminade on Sunday (6pm PST).
