HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team is showing why there was so much optimism coming into the 2015 season.
The Silverswords improved to 2-0 with a 21-25, 25-18, 25-15, 25-11 win over Saint Martin's in the second day of the Honolulu Invitational Friday at McCabe Gym.
For a second consecutive match,
Keani Passi led the 'Swords in kills, putting down 15 while hitting .448 on the night. She also had six digs, three block assists and two aces.
Kim Spring contributed with 11 kills, hitting at a .429 clip, and four total blocks, three assisted.
Suncica Bakic had seven kills, followed by
Cassie Rushlow with five.
Julia Wabinga and Kyra Davidson had seven kills each to lead the Saints, who fell to 0-2 after dropping a straight set decision to Sonoma State earlier in the day.
The 'Swords hit .366 in the match while limiting the Saints to a .009 clip, including a -.115 percentage in the final two sets (11 kills, 17 errors, 52 attacks). They also out-blocked Saint Martin's 9.5-5.
Chaminade came out sluggish in the first set, falling behind 11-4 as Julia Wabinga served up six straight points including three service aces during the run. But behind two Passi kills and a Spring block and service ace, the 'Swords closed to within two (20-18) but couldn't climb out of the hole as they dropped the first set.
The 'Swords rallied in the second, leading much throughout the stanza although SMU closed to within a point at 16-15. Spring accounted for most of the damage the rest of the way with two block assists and two kills including the set clincher as Chaminade tied it at 1.
Chaminade greeted the third set with five straight points at the service line, taking advantage of three Saints hitting errors and an ace from
Natashya Enos. SMU managed to close to within two but Spring hammered down three kills including an acrobatic hard angle shot from the left side as the 'Swords re-established control of the set to take a 2-1 lead.
In the fourth, the Silverswords used a 7-2 run early to establish a 13-6 lead and never looked back as they cruised to win the set and match. Chaminade hit a blistering .522 in the final set.
The Silverswords will play twice Saturday and will face perhaps their toughest test of the season in a 1 p.m. game against 12
th-ranked Sonoma State at McCabe Gym. The Seawolves (2-1) represented the West Region in last year's NCAA National Championships and capped off their Friday with a 3-2 win at BYU-Hawai'i.
Chaminade then wraps the Invitational against Humboldt State (2-0) in McCabe at 7 p.m. Both matches will have live streaming audio on GoSwords.com.
