AZUSA, Calif. -- Junior right side hitter Mattie Shelford stole the show with a match-high 24 kills on just 41 attempts, but Hawai?i Hilo survived the offensive firepower and outlasted Azusa Pacific for a five-set (22-25, 25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 18-16) victory Thursday night.

Shelford registered at least five kills in each of the final four sets, including a dominant six-kill effort without an error in the decisive fifth set. Shelford was responsible for three of her team's final five points in the last set after the Cougars battled back from a 12-8 deficit to a 13-13 deadlock and fought off the first three match points before the Vulcans closed out the match at 18-16.

Hawai?i Hilo was led by Callie Aberle, who tallied 19 of her 22 kills in the first three sets of the match but was limited to three kills beyond the third set and registered nearly 40 percent of the Vulcans' offensive attempts with 79 swings. Kahelalan Vento-Rowe registered 30 digs to lead UHH defensively, and Shelby Harguess had a hand in 10 of the Vulcans' 12 team blocks.

Azusa Pacific compiled 12 more kills and 10 more digs than Hawai?i Hilo, as junior Kristina Kam tallied 26 digs while junior Ashley Swatek added 20. Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Midland posted nine kills with just one error for a .296 hitting percentage, ranking second in efficiency only to Shelford, whose productive 24-kill, five-error night resulted in a blistering .463 attack percentage. Junior outside hitter Joy Reinke contributed 14 kills to the Cougars' 76-kill total.

Reinke registered five kills without an error to lead the Cougars to a 25-22 opening-set win, and the Azusa Pacific offense converted 18 kills with a collective efficiency of 39 percent in a set that featured 11 ties and five lead changes. In the end, Azusa Pacific overcame four three-point deficits and eventually closed out the set by scoring six of the final seven points.

The Cougars extended the run into the second set with four straight points. However, the Vulcans answered with a 9-4 run, resulting in a 13-10 edge, and Hawai?i Hilo led the rest of the set en route to a 25-22 win that evened the match at one set apiece. The Vulcans went out in front with a 25-21 third-set win, rallying to score six of seven to close out the set.

Shelford registered two kills as Midland served during an 8-0 run early in the fourth set, giving the Cougars a 15-6 lead which it turned into a match-tying 25-18 fourth-set victory before UHH jumped out to an 8-4 lead in the fifth set. The Vulcans led by that four-point margin four times in the final set, the last time at 12-8 before Shelford led the Cougar rally.

With the defeat, which dropped Azusa Pacific to 4-3 in five-set matches this year, the Cougars are now 12-14 overall and 8-9 in PacWest play. Hawai?i Hilo improved to 9-12 overall, 8-10 PacWest. Azusa Pacific continues its season-ending six-match homestand Friday night when it hosts the PacWest leader, No. 4-ranked BYU-Hawaii.