HILO, Hawaii - Fresno Pacific battled through its third match in as many days as the Sunbirds concluded their Hawaii road trip with a tough 3-1 setback at Hawaii Hilo. The Sunbirds (4-11, 4-6 PacWest) came out strong early and at times looked to be controlling the match before fading down the stretch and dropping the final three sets.

FPU hit .405 in a 25-23 set one victory before dropping the second set 25-22. The turning point in the match came in set three, when FPU jumped out to an 11-4 lead before letting the Vulcans back into it. Up 24-22, the Sunbirds would have set point on two occasions but UHH completed the comeback to win in extras 27-25 and used that momentum to hit .395 with just one error in the final set.

Carley Bock and Gabriela Macedo led FPU with 18 kills apiece. Bock was firing on all cylinders, hitting .317 on the night in 41 attacks, while Macedo added 10 digs to record a double-double. Hannah Butler kept the Sunbirds in quite a few plays, totaling a match-high 32 digs. Chelsea Speaks turned in a quality defensive performance as well, finishing with 18 digs. Montana Lowe added 11 kills and hit .333. Sarah McCann finished a kill and a dig away from a double-double and Bissie DenHartog dished out 48 assists.

FPU hit .229 on the night while UHH hit .255. Marley Strand-Nicolaisen led the Vulcans with 23 kills as UHH improved to 7-5, 5-4 in PacWest play.

The Sunbirds return home this week to face Dixie State on Wednesday at 7 pm. It will be FPU's annual DigPink Night as Sunbird fans are encouraged to wear pink to support the fight against breast cancer.