BYU-Hawaii charges from blindside to claim share of PacWest Volleyball title, NCAA II automatic berth

HONOLULU, HI – The Brigham Young University Hawaii women’s volleyball team combined a 3-0 sweep of Chaminade with Hawai‘i Pacific’s 3-1 victory over Hawai‘i Hilo on Saturday evening to grab a share of the Pacific West Conference Championship and claim the automatic berth to the NCAA II National Championship Tournament.

The Seasiders defeated the Silverswords 29-27, 25-17, 25-23 in Honolulu, just a few miles from where Hawai‘i Pacific was creating havoc for the Vulcans of Hawai‘i Hilo on Saturday night. The Sea Warriors dropped the opening match to the Vulcans but rallied for three straight wins to leave BYU-Hawaii and Hawai‘i Hilo deadlocked atop the PacWest standings at 13-3.

Even though the two squads share the championship under PacWest rules, BYU-Hawaii gets the automatic qualifier after sweeping the two-game season series with the Vulcans. The second Seasider win came on Friday evening when BYU-Hawaii dropped the first match before reeling off three straight wins for a 3-1 victory.

Hawai‘i Pacific and Hawai‘i Hilo now will hope for a possible NCAA II at-large berth. The Sea Warriors were not ranked in the region on the last poll, while the Vulcans were ranked eighth.

-- www.thepacwest.com -