HONOLULU – For the fifth time this season, the Chaminade University women's volleyball team took an opponent to the limit. But for the third straight time, the Silverswords were unable to get over the hump.
Chaminade fell to 1-4 in five-set matches this season, dropping a 25-21, 23-25, 25-12, 25-27, 15-10 decision to Azusa Pacific Thursday at McCabe Gym.
The Silverswords (10-10 overall, 3-7 Pacific West Conference) were led by
Madalene Barrett and
Cassie Rushlow with 17 kills each. Barrett, who came off the bench, established a new season-high in kills for the sophomore while Rushlow tied hers.
Azusa Pacific (11-7, 7-2 PacWest) got three players in double-digit kills, led by Hayley Beetstra's and Mattie Shelford's 13. Ashley Midland added 12 kills and six combined blocks for the Cougars, who remained tied for fourth place of the PacWest standings, just two matches behind conference-leading and fourth-ranked BYU-Hawai'i.
Despite the defeat, the 'Swords showed great resolve late in the match, rallying from down 23-21, in what for APU could have been the clinching set in the fourth. Instead, Chaminade forced three Cougar hitting errors, then got back-to-back Barrett kills to force a decisive fifth set.
In the fifth, the Silverswords were down as many as 12-4, but kept chipping away, closing to within 13-9, thanks to three APU hitting errors and kills from Barrett and
Suncica Bakic.
Chaminade was held to a .169 attacking percentage and hit .118 in the crucial fifth set while Azusa Pacific hit .265 for the match and was an efficient .294 in Set 5.
The Silverswords did manage to get double-digit total team blocks for the first time in over a month, out-blocking the Cougars, 11-9.
Ku`ulei Lynch had five combined blocks, all assisted while
Reigna Johnson had four, three assisted.
Valentina Bevilacqua had three combined blocks, while reserve setter
Ka Ua Cale, who is rarely used in the front row, picked up three block assists, a new single-match career-high.
Lynch also had seven kills followed by
Kira Long's six. Bevilacqua had 38 assists for Chaminade while
Athena Maskarich accounted for 13 digs.
The 'Swords' journey against the top teams in the PacWest during their current homestand continues on Friday when they face third-place Point Loma. The match is set for 7 p.m. and can be heard via streaming audio on GoSwords.com.
