Aug. 31st, 2004
Carson, CA - Chaminade University boasted three Silverswords with double-digit kills, including Valasi Sepulona's match-high 19 putaways, en-route to a 3-1 (18-30, 30-24, 30-24, 30-19) victory at Cal State-Dominguez Hills.
The Toros began game one on fire, using a .375 to .027 hitting advantage to take a 30-18 decision. CSUDH never trailed in the game, scampering to an 8-1 lead and increasing it to 18-10 on a Sword attack error. The Toros continued to pressure the Swords, riding six points on serve to close out game one, 30-18.
Chaminade bounced back and took an early lead in game two, 10-3. The Swords connected on .389 of their attacks compared to .250 for the Toros. CSUDH would get as close as 18-15 on a Chaminade service error, before CU outscored the Toros 15-6 to win game two, 30-24.
The Swords continued their momentum in the next frame and withstood an early Toro run, taking a 17-14 lead. A Chaminade service error narrowed the gap to 17-16, but Kahala Kabalis and Valasi Sepulona knocked down 13 kills in the frame, propelling CU to a 30-24 victory.
In game four Chaminade received four kills by Kabalis, and three each by Sepulona and Nikolina Rastovac to take a 19-12 lead. The Toros narrowed the deficit to 19-14 on a Silversword attack error before Marijana Stanic won five straight service points to give CU a commanding 29-17 cushion. After saving two match points, a Toro service error gave Chaminade game four, 30-19, and the match, 3-1.
Bolstering Sepulona's 19 kills, Kabalis tallied 16 kills while Patti Hardimon reached 11 kills to round out the Chaminade attack. CU setter Nicolina Rastovac tallied a match-high 45 assists in the win.
The Swords face UC-San Diego on Wednesday before heading to the Cal Poly Pomona tournament on Friday and Saturday.
