Lin, Weng propel No. 5 BYUH past No. 24 HPU
By Brandon Masuoka
Advertiser Staff Writer
After losing its first match of the season last week, the Brigham Young-Hawai'i women's volleyball team rebounded to beat Hawai'i Pacific, 30-22, 28-30, 30-26, 30-19, last night at the Cannon Activities Center.
A crowd of 866 watched the fifth-ranked Seasiders improve to 13-1 overall and 4-1 in the Pacific West Conference. The 24th-ranked Sea Warriors, who had their four-match winning streak snapped, dropped to 9-4 and 4-1.
"I think we came out flat," HPU coach Tita Ahuna said. "I don't know if it was intimidation, but we didn't show up tonight."
The Seasiders rolled behind their talented freshman duo from Taiwan, Chun Yi Lin and Yu Chuan Weng, who pounded a match-high 21 kills each. Susy Garbelotti led HPU with 19 kills.
Last night's match marked the midway point of the conference season and served as an early indicator on which team would challenge for the conference title and the automatic postseason berth. BYUH and HPU are both tied for the conference lead.
"This win was way important," said BYUH junior middle blocker Ashley Moeai, who finished with nine kills. "We need to get back on the winning track."
Last Friday, the Seasiders lost to unranked Hawai'i-Hilo in five games at Hilo.
BYUH assistant coach Mike Apo said last night's win against defending Pacific West Conference champion HPU was big.
"In the conference standings, this win was big," Apo said. "It was also big for our girls' confidence."
To make the match more interesting, BYUH played without its top setter, sophomore Kaala Lo, who suffered a back injury and will be out for two weeks. Her backup, freshman Crystal Casebolt, filled in nicely and received help from hitters Lin, Weng and Dan Xu.
The three hitters combined for 54 of the Seasiders 70 kills and eased the pressure on Casebolt who finished with 56 assists. The Seasiders hit .323 for the match, while the Sea Warriors hit .235.
"All week, we were working with our new setter," Moeai said. "This just shows that we can make adjustments."
The Seasiders ambushed the Sea Warriors in Game 1, storming out to a 26-16 lead. HPU rallied to within 27-22, but Lin scored two points off a block and kill, and Weng had a service ace to end the game.
The Sea Warriors fell behind 20-17 in Game 2, but clawed their way back into the game and took a 28-27 lead on a mishit by Xu. An HPU hitting error allowed BYUH to tie the score at 28, but HPU ended the game by getting a lift call by Casebolt and a block on Weng.
HPU blasted to an early 6-2 lead in Game 3, but couldn't maintain its momentum. Moeai's kill broke a 22-22 tie and triggered an 8-4 run that sealed the game.
HPU grabbed a brief 18-17 lead in Game 4, but the Sea Warriors would score just one more point the rest of the game. BYUH rallied with a Weng kill to tie the score at 18 and rattled off a 12-1 run to win the match.
Chaminade sweeps UHH: Kahala Kabalis had 17 kills and 11 digs, and Audrey Brady and Valasi Sepulona each had 12 kills as Chaminade swept Hawai'i-Hilo in Pacific West Conference volleyball last night at Waiakea High School.
The scores were 30-25, 30-17, 30-28.
Chaminade hit .315 for the match, while Hilo hit just .226.
The Silverswords improved to 10-3 overall and 4-2 in the PacWest.
Sara Pilgreen had 14 kills to lead Hilo, which fell to 6-11 and 2-4.
