HONOLULU – The long home stand for the Chaminade University women's volleyball team continued Friday night at McCabe Gym and yet again gave another squad in the upper level of the Pacific West Conference a run for its money.
The Silverswords battled before falling to Fresno Pacific University, the fourth-place team in the conference, in four sets, 25-17, 20-25, 25-19, 25-15.
Cassie Rushlow put down 12 kills for the 'Swords while
Suncica Bakic had 11 while
Madalene Barrett added 10. Bakic also hit .364 in the match for Chaminade (11-12 overall, 4-9 PacWest).
Kathleen Anderson had a match-high 15 kills while hitting at a .464 clip for the Sunbirds (15-6, 9-3).
Valentina Bevilacqua had 37 assists on the night while
Natashya Enos picked up 13 digs.
Reigna Johnson put down six kills and added a team-best four block assists.
Brenda Walker, a third team All-PacWest libero last season who was sidelined for the team's first 22 matches due to an injury, made her season debut at defensive specialist and made six digs while playing in all four sets.
After dropping the first set, the Silverswords jumped out quickly in Set 2, taking a 6-2 lead behind two Bakic kills and back-to-back Rushlow aces. The Sunbirds closed to within 12-10, but Chaminade got balanced attacks with three kills from Rushlow and two each from Bakic and Barrett to extend their lead to 22-14. FPU rallied again and inched to within 23-20, but the 'Swords sealed the deal with a Bakic kill and a double block by Johnson and Barrett. Chaminade hit .324 in the set and held the Sunbirds to a .206 percentage.
But the 'Swords could not maintain the momentum as Fresno Pacific captured the third and fourth sets.
However, Chaminade continues to be competitive as the season begins to wind down. All five teams the 'Swords have faced in their current home stand are between the second and sixth places in the PacWest. Despite dropping four of them, three of those matches (Azusa Pacific, California Baptist and Fresno Pacific) have gone into extra sets.
The 'Swords continue their home stand and will face Dominican University of California on Sunday at 7 p.m. with live audio coverage on GoSwords.com.
