Honolulu, Hawai'i - The Pacific volleyball team fell in three sets at No. 15 Hawai'i at the Hawaiian Airlines Wahine Volleyball Classic late Friday night, 25-15, 25-18, 25-23.
Lexi Elman led Pacific with 10 kills, while Emily Baptista added eight while hitting .316. Andie Shelton recorded 27 assists while Elman and Katrin Gotterba led the Tigers with seven digs each. Ashlyn Fleming provided six kill and five blocks, and Skylar Wine tallied five kills on 13 swings with no errors to hit .385.
Nikki Taylor led Hawai'i with 22 kills and four service aces on the night. Hawai'i posted 11 blocks and tallied seven service aces while picking up 22 points in the service game, surrendering just 10.
Hawai'i built a 7-2 lead early in set one on three consecutive blocks. After a kill from Elman, the Wahine stretched the lead to 11-4 before back-to-back kills by the Tigers. Fleming and Elman posted kills bringing the Tigers within 14-9, and after a service error, Elman added two more kills to cut the gap to 16-13. But the Wahine answered with five-straight points for a 21-13 lead and Hawai'i wrapped up set one, 25-15. Hawai'i recorded five blocks and benefitted from five service errors.
Pacific jumped out to a 4-1 lead in set two, with an ace from Baptista and a block from Shelton and Fleming. Hawai'i rallied back to tie at 8-8 and surged ahead 15-11 at the media timeout. Nikki Taylor posted back-to-back service aces for Hawai'i, who maintained a 21-15 lead. Elman and Fleming teamed for a block, but the Wahine held on for a 25-18 win. Pacific out-hit Hawai'i in set two, .259 to .174, however the Wahine picked up six points via service error and posted four aces.
With a kill from Baptista, an ace from Maycie LaBass and a block from Baptista & Fleming, Pacific took a 6-2 lead in set three. Up 8-4, Taylor tallied three-straight kills for the Wahine to kick off a 7-1 run. Elman and Fleming posted kills to bring the Tigers even at 13-13. The Tigers took the lead 16-15 on an ace from LaBass, but Taylor answered for Hawai'i. Down 21-18, Lauren Cline provided a kill but Taylor struck again with two kills for a 23-20 Hawai'i lead. Elman added a service ace to pull within 24-22, but the Wahine clinched the set on a service error.
Pacific falls to 2-3 on the year following back-to-back losses to ranked squads (No. 8 UCLA, No. 15 Hawai'i). Hawai'i improves to 3-2. The Tigers will complete their stay in the tournament against Missouri State on Saturday evening, with Hawai'i vs UCLA to follow.
