The University of Hawai'i-Hilo volleyball team needs to win just two of its four matches this week to lock up at least a share of the 2007 Pacific West Conference championship.

The Vulcans, who are 8-0 in conference (17-5 overall), can dispense with the job by taking both matches against sixth-place Dixie State (3-6, 5-19) at home tonight and tomorrow. If not, they have two more shots at home against fifth-place Grand Canyon (3-5, 7-13) on Friday and Saturday.

With three wins, the Vulcans would take the championship outright.

"Our main goal this season was to get some respectability back and for our opponents to have to thoroughly compete against us," said Vulcan head coach Bruce Atkinson. "We've been able to do that."

And it seems that the Hilo community has been paying attention.

About 650 spectators turned out for the first of two home matches against Brigham Young-Hawai'i a couple of weeks ago; 500 attended the second match.

And while the turnout isn't threatening any box office numbers, it's a vast improvement over the 100 or so loyalists who typically showed up for matches last year, when Hilo stumbled to a 3-12 conference record.

"They've been a big part of our success this year," Atkinson said of the fans. "Our goal is to get closer to the 800-to-1,000 mark. I think it'll happen as word gets out that we have an exciting team to watch."

Key to the team's hot streak — it is 9-1 in its last 10 games — has been sophomore middle blocker Lauren Bayer.

Bayer, one of three players who followed Atkinson from his previous coaching stop at the University of Texas at Brownsville, picked up her second PacWest Player of the Week award this week after leading the Vulcans to a 3-1 win over Chaminade on Saturday.

"She's just really consistent and that's the main reason I wanted to bring her on the team," Atkinson said. "She's very consistent and every once in a while she'll have a standout night."

Saturday against Chaminade was one of those nights.

Bayer, who hails from San Antonio, Tex., racked up 21 kills on .417 hitting, six block assists and one solo block. Her points per game (6.25) and kills per game (5.25) averages were tops in the PacWest last week.

Atkinson will need Bayer, setter Desiree Agader, hitters Fabiane Seben and Josimara Pinheiro and the rest of his precocious squad to remain at their consistent best to hold off a conference of battered but still dangerous rivals.

Defending conference champ BYUH sits in second place at 7-4 (11-8 overall) after manhandling previous No. 2 Notre Dame de Namur, 3-0 and 3-1, last week.

The Seasiders got solid performances from Tanza Buroker (17 kills on .441 hitting), LeeAnn Mapu (83 assists) and Noelle Filimoeatu (28 kills, five block assists) in those matches.

And while always-tough Chaminade wallows in last place with two wins in seven conference matches, the Silverswords are hardly the typical conference doormat.

Next to UH-Hilo and BYUH, Chaminade is the only other program in the conference with a winning overall record (9-6). Despite a tough schedule, the Silverswords' only loss to a non-conference opponent was against Menlo on Sept. 16.

"We know on any given night any team in this conference can beat us," Atkinson said.

WHO'S NO. 2?

Who knew there was such symmetry in soccer. In the men's standings, Grand Canyon has a lock on first place with a 6-0 record and Chaminade sits on the other end at 0-6. In between are NDNU, BYUH, HPU and UH-Hilo — all tied for second at 3-3.

Reach Michael Tsai at mtsai@honoluluadvertiser.com.