PacWest rival stops Seasiders’ title run

NAMPA, Idaho » This time, the slow start lingered. This time, it cost the Brigham Young-Hawaii volleyball team.

The ninth-ranked Seasiders couldn’t overcome an 0-2 deficit Friday night, seeing their season end at the hands of PacWest rival Dixie State in the NCAA D-II West Regional volleyball tournament. The Red Storm, who finished second to the Seasiders in conference play, avenged two regular-season losses with a 25-19, 25-16, 15-25, 25-19 victory at the Johnson Sports Center.

Lindsey Jones had 15 kills and Kendahl Welland added 13 for the Red Storm (22-6), who will meet Sonoma State (22-6) in Saturday’s championship match at the Johnson Sports Center. The winner advances to the Elite Eight in Louisville, Ky., on Dec. 4-6.

BYUH senior Shih Ting "Stella" Chen had her 19th double-double of the season with match highs of 23 kills and 15 digs. Senior middle Erh Fang "Ariel" Hsu added 11 kills.

The Seasiders (22-6) were out-blocked 12.5-9 and out-dug 67-52, and ended with a season-low .195 hitting percentage, including hitting .000 in Set 4.

On Thursday, the Seasiders dropped Set 1 to Central Washington before making the right adjustments and diversifying their attack , winning in four. Friday, Chen got little help.

"We had three goals to accomplish," Dixie State coach Robyn Fleder said. "We needed to pass well, we needed to out-defend them, and contain Stella. And I felt honestly that our defense stepped up, our offense matched what they were bringing, and we couldn’t have played a better game at the right time."

The Seasiders battled back into the match in Set 2, with Chen’s two kills sparking a 7-1 run that helped extended a 12-10 lead to 19-11. Chen added another two kills in the 6-4 closing run to give BYUH hope.

Dixie State quickly squashed that, opening Set 4 with a kill by Jones and three consecutive blocks.

BYUH never recovered, with the Red Storm advancing to the title match against the California Collegiate Athletic Association champion.