FULLERTON – The Hope International men's volleyball team posted season-highs in kills, assists and blocks to earn a hard fought 20-25, 25-22, 25-23, 30-28 victory against La Sierra in GSAC action on Tuesday in Darling Pavilion.

The Royals notched 58 kills, 57 assists and 14.5 blocks to withstand a 20-kill, 13-dig effort by Golden Eagle Tucker Ellis, as HIU improved to 5-13 overall and 3-5 in the GSAC.

The Golden Eagles fell to 3-9 and 2-6 in conference action.

Jah'mi Jeter threw down a career-high 19 kills and Alessandro Spendolini added 17 on .302 hitting. Spendolini chipped in 11 digs to earn his sixth double-double.

Travis Donahue collected career-highs in kills (11) and blocks (6) while hitting at a .667 (11-1-15) clip.

Hugo Gonzalez Gutierrez led the defensive effort from his libero position, totaling a career-best 18 digs.

On the theme of career bests, setter Sam D'Ambrosio dealt out 52 assists as the Royals hit .240 for the match, including .375 in set three and .432 in set four.

HIU had five service errors and hit just .027 in losing set one 25-20. The Royals stayed within striking distance, trailing 17-15, but the Golden Eagles used a 6-3 run to take a 23-18 lead following an Ellis kill. Ellis polished off the win with his fifth kill on set point.

Donahue had four kills, while Spendolini and Benjamin Antonio chipped in three apiece to power HIU's 25-22 set two victory. The Royals hit just .150 in the set, but held La Sierra to .128 efficiency.

Trailing 19-18, the Royals took a 22-20 lead following a 4-1 run – aided by two Jeter kills. The Royals led 23-22 and won the set after a La Sierra attack error and Antonio kill.

The two teams battled through nine ties early in set three. Tied at 9-9, HIU created its first cushion after a 4-1 run gave the home team a 13-10 lead, the last two points coming courtesy of Jeter kills.

The Royals extended the lead to four at 20-16, but a 4-1 run by the visitors cut the deficit to 21-20 and forced an HIU timeout. Sean Seaman blasted a big kill coming out of the break for a 22-20 HIU lead, but the Golden Eagles tied the score at 22-22 after a Robert Jones kill, and assisted block by Jones and Riley Hurdiss.

However, HIU scored three of the final four points. Seaman and Spendolini stuffed Jones on an attack, and on set point, Spendolini and Donahue rejected Matthew King for the 25-23 triumph.

HIU led for most of the fourth set, but by no more than four points. Back-to-back Ellis kills tied the score at 17-17, completing a 5-2 run. After a Royals timeout, they scored four of the next five points, getting two kills each from Donahue and Jeter.

But the Golden Eagles fought back to a 23-23 tie and eventually took a 25-24 lead. Spendolini staved off one set point with a kill, but King responded with a putaway as La Sierra regained a one-point advantage. Ellis committed an error to tie the score at 26-26, but the Royals served awry as La Sierra went up 27-26.

With the score tied at 28-28, La Sierra had a service error and an attack error as the Royals squeezed out the 30-28 victory.

It was the second time this season that HIU overcame a first-set deficit to win a match.

HIU hosts Benedictine Mesa on Friday at 6:00 p.m. to continue GSAC play.