OLYMPIA, Wash. -
Tiare Kaopua had 15 kills to help lead Pacific to a 25-17, 25-23, 25-21 non-conference triumph over Evergreen State at the Costantino Recreation Center on Wednesday night.
The victory gets the Boxers into the win column in 2015 (1-5) and snapped a Geoduck two-match win streak (2-5).
The win also avenged in part a loss to the NAIA squad in 2014, when Evergreen State topped the Boxers in Forest Grove in three sets.
"We have been on the verge of breaking through even though we have had some tough results in the last week," said Pacific head coach
Kip Yoshimura. "We played well tonight and hopefully this will be another stepping stone to getting better."
Kaopua put up a season high for the Boxers in the attack column. She got help from
Morgan Mendicino with nine kills and
Emily Farnham fed them both with 30 total assists in the three-set match.
Karissa Komo paced the defense with 12 digs.
The Boxers never trailed by more than a point in the match, despite the tight scores in sets two and three. In the third set, the two squads were tied at 13-13 before a pair of Kaopua put-aways gave the visitors the lead for good. Her kill on the final point of the night sealed the win.
Next up for the Boxers is their Northwest Conference opener at Linfield on Wednesday, Sept. 16 at 7 p.m.