FULLERTON – The Hope International women's volleyball team had one of its most efficient attacking performances of the season in a four-set win against Arizona Christian on Saturday at Darling Pavilion.Â
The Royals swung at a .295 clip – the third-best hitting percentage in a match – in the 25-20, 25-17, 23-25, 25-20 triumph.
The sister tandem of Manaia Mamea and Lole Mamea both hit .400 or better and finished with 18 and 15 kills, respectively. Sabrina Galassi added 11 kills and 11 digs for her fourth double-double. Manaia Mamea also produced her fourth double-double following an 11-dig effort.
Genevieve Kertz and Olivia Samaniego were solid in the middle with nine kills apiece, with Kertz chipping in five block assists.
Setter Rita Nua dished out a career-high 51 assists while contributing two service aces and eight digs. Kaylani Moncada set a career high with four aces and had 33 digs – the second-most in a match this season.
The Royals won for the fifth time in their last six matches to improve to 8-10 overall and 6-3 in the GSAC.
Zuri Reeser led the Firestorm (9-8, 4-6 GSAC) with 14 kills.
The Royals have become accustomed to striking opponents with big runs in recent contests. In set one, HIU erased an early 7-4 deficit with a mammoth 10-2 run, taking a 14-9 lead. Manaia Mamea had three kills and Galassi two during the turnaround.
ACU climbed to within 23-20, but the Royals grabbed the 25-20 set triumph following a Manaia Mamea kill and Firestorm attack error. HIU outhit ACU .273 to .094.
HIU posted a 10-6 lead in set two following back-to-back kills from Samaniego. Kertz added three kills and teamed up with Lole Mamea for a block to increase the advantage to 17-9.
The Royals closed out the 25-17 set two victory on another Samaniego spike, hitting .351 compared to ACU's .179.
The home team looked for the sweep and had the inside track on doing so with a 16-11 lead in set three. But the Firestorm rallied with five straight points to even the score at 16-16. ACU eventually took leads of 19-17 and 21-19 before the Royals caught up at 22-22.
The two teams were tied at 23-23 when Madison Van Wie and Sydney Wade combined for consecutive block assists for the final two points and a 25-23 win. ACU had its best hitting percentage of the match at .281 while HIU chimed in at .175.
HIU regrouped in set four, closing out the Firestorm with a .389 hitting performance. Five ties got the two teams to 16-16 before two straight Lole Mamea kills put the Royals up by two.
The Royals remained in front by two at 22-20 following a Reeser kill. The Mamea sisters ended the contest, accounting for the final three points. The duo had 13 of HIU's 18 kills in the set to power the Royals to victory.
HIU gets a full week of rest before taking on the GSAC leader in No. 18 The Master's next Saturday at 2:00 p.m. inside Darling Pavilion.
