ST. GEORGE, Utah – Earlier this season, Dixie State swept Chaminade in Honolulu. This time around, the Silverswords let it be known that that wasn't the real team which was on the McCabe Gym floor that evening.
The Swords gave the Pacific West Conference's second-place team all it could handle before falling in five sets, 29-27, 21-25, 21-25, 25-19, 15-9, Sunday at Old Gymnasium.
It was the ninth five-set match the Silverswords (12-17 overall, 5-14 PacWest) have played this season. Four of those matches have come against the top six teams in the conference standings.
Suncica Bakic put down a season-high 15 kills for the Swords while
Cassie Rushlow added 12.
Kira Long and
Madalene Barrett each had nine kills, followed by
Reigna Johnson with seven.
Edithza Urias had a match-high 18 kills for Dixie State (19-8 overall, 16-3 PacWest).
The Swords out-blocked Dixie State, 14-9. The Red Storm entered the match as the third-best blocking team in the PacWest. The block total by Chaminade is also its highest of the season.
Ku`ulei Lynch had eight combined blocks including seven block assists, both career-highs. Rushlow contributed with four block assists, tying her career-high. Johnson also had four combined blocks, three assisted.
Valentina Bevilacqua had 33 assists and nine digs while
Ka Ua Cale dished out 14 assists. Three Swords had double-digit digs, led by
Athena Maskarich's 19. Bakic and
Natashya Enos had 11 each.
The first set was a knock-down, drag-out affair. Dixie State had an early 12-8 lead, but Chaminade's 8-1 run, spurred by two Bakic kills with Rushlow's block assist and ace, put the Swords up, 16-13. DSU rallied and twice served for the set, but Barrett's kill forced extra points. Chaminade also had two chances at set point, but couldn't close it out as the Red Storm eventually won it.
In Set 2, the Swords managed to build a 10-6 lead with the help of consecutive block assists by Rushlow and Lynch. Dixie State crawled back and eventually took the lead. But at 16-all, a DSU service error gave Chaminade the lead it never relinquished. Kills by Johnson and Rushlow, a Bevilacqua ace, followed by a Red Storm hitting error were part of a decisive 4-0 run that put the Swords in control of the set, which ended on Bakic's ninth kill of the match.
Chaminade led by as many as four in third set before the Red Storm managed to tie it at 20. The Swords then took the lead back as Bakic found the floor, then they took advantage of three DSU errors which led to the set win and taking a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth set, Dixie State led by as many as six midway through. Chaminade made a run to close to within three, but the Red Storm managed to pull away to send the match into a winner-take-all fifth set.
In the fifth, a 7-1 Red Storm run early proved to be the difference as Dixie State escaped to win the match.
The Swords return home and will prepare for the final match of the season against nationally-ranked and defending PacWest champion, BYU-Hawai'i, on Saturday at McCabe Gym. It will also be the final career matches for seniors Cale,
Darcie Horiuchi and
Athena Maskarich.
