BOX SCORE Hawai'i Pacific 3, #24 Sonoma State 2 (26-24, 25-21, 14-25, 22-25, 15-10) -- Box Score

HONOLULU, Hawai'i -- Madelyn Densberger and Ally Sather combined for 36 of the team's 63 kills on Friday night, and after trailing two sets to none, a late rally by the Sonoma State volleyball team would force a fifth a deciding set, but its comeback attempt fell just short as host Hawai'i Pacific held on for the 3-2 (26-24, 25-21, 14-25, 22-25, 15-10) victory at the 2012 Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Invitational in Honolulu, Hawai'i.  The Seawolves falls to 1-1 on the season while the Sea Warriors earn the win in their season opener.

It was a tightly contested match, as it featured 24 ties and 11 lead changes, most of which came in the opening set (11 ties and six lead changes).  It was HPU to squeak out the first set (26-24) before earning the win in set number two at 25-21.  SSU had its most efficient set of the match in set number three, hitting at a blazing .483 clip with 17 kills and just three errors in 29 swings, but the Seawolves would cool off again and the Sea Warriors were able to take advantage of the miscues in the fifth set to take the match win.

Even though Sonoma State had more kills than Hawai'i Pacific (63-49), it would be the Sea Warriors' play at the net on the defensive side -- HPU rejected 14 total blocks (18 assisted, five solo).  As a result, the Seawolves hit just .116 as a team with 63 kills and 40 errors in 199 attack attempts.  In fact, the 40 errors committed by the Seawolf offense on Friday was the most since the team erred 43 times back on Sept. 15, 2006 against Cal State Stanislaus.

Densberger smashed 18 kills to the floor and led the team with a .250 hitting percentage (18k-6e-48a), matching Sather's kills output of 18 -- Sather sported a .232 clip (18k-5e-56a).  Hayley Ross, who handed out 54 assists, was the only other Sonoma State player that hit above .000 with just two kills.  Kelsey Hull pounded 15 kills, but she also misfired 15 times in 46 total attacks.

Defensively, Nicole Gragnola made 26 digs to lead all players, Densberger notched her first career double-double with the aforementioned 18 kills in addition to 17 digs, and Hull also had double-double figures, upping 12 Sea Warrior attacks to go along with her 15 successful swings on offense.

Sanoe Recca led Hawai'i Pacific with 17 kills and Amanda Moriarty chipped in with 10.  Christina Furrer had a huge match at the net, recording five total blocks, including three solo rejections.  Haley Doerfler also played a big role in HPU's block party with five assisted blocks on the night.

Sonoma State will play two matches on Saturday to wrap up its trip to Hawai'i -- a 2:00 pm matchup with Chaminade, followed by a 7:15 pm tilt with Montana State Billings.  The Seawolves will then fly home to prepare for their own tournament, the Seawolf Spike, next Friday and Saturday in Rohnert Park.