Box Score
HONOLULU, Hawaii - Hawai'i Pacific hit a sizzling .337 as a team and used big runs, which led to a 3-0 (25-19, 25-13, 25-18) volleyball victory against Alaska Saturday night at St. Andrew's Priory.
Pomai Recca turned in a team-best 12 kills for the Sea Warriors (1-0) as she hit .385 (12-2-26) in their season opener. Kasey Thompson accrued 10 kills with a solid .692 (10-1-13) attack clip while Haley Doerfler added nine terminations on 12 swings for a .750 percentage to go with four blocks. Marie Fujii tallied 22 assists and three aces while Chelsey Buyuan and Recca combined for 15 digs.
The Nanooks (0-4) were limited to a team hitting percentage of .133 (28-16-90) and committed nine reception errors in the defeat. Sophomore outside hitter Sam Harthun (Oregon City, Ore./Art) turned in a match-best 13 kills with a .242 percentage (13-5-33) and senior outside hitter Keri Knight (Arvada, Colo./Business Administration) contributed seven terminations with a .278 (7-2-18) clip. Freshman setter Katelyn Camp (Newton, Iowa/General Studies) totaled 20 assists and eight digs while junior libero Tessa Butterfield (Grass Valley, Calif./Justice) added eight digs as well, which was a tie for the match high.
Tied at 14 in the opening set, kills by Recca and Doerfler sparked a 5-1 run to give HPU a 19-15 advantage. Alaska trimmed the deficit back to two at 20-18 but a pair of kills and service ace for the hosts gave it a comfortable 23-18 lead. Recca closed out the set with a pair of monster kills to give HPU set one by the score of 25-19.
The second set was all Sea Warriors as they hit a monster .414 (14-2-29) in the frame while Alaska struggled, hitting -.074 (6-8-27) in a 25-13 loss. The set was squared at 7-7 before HPU took off scoring 18 of 24 points with a pair of 4-0 runs and a 5-0 run down the stretch.
Hawai'i Pacific opened the third with nine of 13 points to lead the 'Nooks by five. Leading 10-6, HPU opened up the lead with a 7-1 run in which the home team accrued five kills and a pair of aces. Alaska cut it to five twice, with the last coming at 23-18 but the Sea Warriors claimed the match by scoring the following two points on terminations by Recca and Thompson.
Alaska returns home next week to open the home portion of the season schedule. The Nanooks will host Colorado Christian, No. 12 Fresno Pacific and Humboldt State for the 2013 Flint Hills Resources Alaska Nanook Classic, Sept. 6-7 at the Patty Center.
