Aug. 18, 2005
Honolulu, HI- The 2005 Chaminade Women's Volleyball team takes to the court for the first time this upcoming Saturday afternoon. They will be meeting a distinguished group of Silversword Alumnae in the Annual Blue and White Game at 2pm in McCabe Gym. The Swords will be led by returnees,
Nikolina Rastovac,
Marijana Stanic,
Christina Williams and
Amy Sumida. Among those making their Sword debut will be sisters Tamara and Trina Kauliakamoa. Tamara will be pushing Rastovac for playing time at the setter position while Trina has displayed great attacking skills during practice.
Of special interest to fans will be the intense competition among frontliners Kara Smith, Britnee Fonnesbeck and Lila Sapolu. These three will give the Ladies a strong presence in the middle, and along with Stanic and Williams, provide an effective and diverse attack this season.
This game will mark the return of Ashley Elliazar to the local volleyball scene. Elliazar's talents along with those of Chelsea Powell, Annie Lanoza and Sumida are expected to give the Swords a hard nosed and gritty presence on the floor.
The Alumni Team will feature several members of last year's NCAA tournament team. Expected to play are Ka'ahala Kabalis, Valasi Sepuloa and Janeen Waialae. They will be joined by 1996 PacWest Championship teammates: Karlen Porter and Hinano Warfield-Nahinu. Others appearing will include: Joan Lilio, Momi Kaaihue, Jessica Robins, Julyn Kaupu, Nina Riel, Jeanal Souza and Agnes Sevelo.
Commenting on the game, Sword coach Glennie Adams stresses that it would be good for the team to finally appear before a crowd. "We need to see if there is any chemistry for us. I am extremely excited about this team. We are athletic and talented, but we are also young and inexperienced, so that makes for a lot of uncertainty as we begin the season. We need to see how we address the ebbs and flows of a game. This game will show both how far we have come and how far we have to go."
The Swords open their season on the road at Hilo in the Hawaiian Classic and then fly to the west coast before returning home to McCabe Gym. The Swords open their 2005 home regular season against Notre Dame de Namur on Friday, September 16th.
Story written by: Dennis Chun
