HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team continues to close the regular season on a hot streak.
The Silverswords Friday extended their winning streak to five by upending their crosstown rivals, Hawai'i Pacific University, 22-25, 25-16, 25-12, 25-23, at James Castle Gymnasium on the St. Andrew's Priory School campus.
Emma Tecklenburg (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) put down a match-high 20 kills with nine digs, four service aces and two blocks for Chaminade which improved to 16-11 overall and 11-8 in the Pacific West Conference.
Kira Long (Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) and
Brooke Bell (Escondido, Calif./North Idaho College) each added nine kills while
Terezie Cernosek (Santa Clarita, Calif./Valencia) matched her career-high with eight and also had four total blocks.
Perla Escobar and Camryn Collie led the Sharks (7-20 overall, 5-14 PacWest) with nine kills apiece.
It's the second time in three years Chaminade swept the season series against HPU. The victory also clinched the volleyball portion of the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge for the Silverswords who won all four matches against their fellow Hawai'i schools this season.
Skyler Curry (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) and
Danielle Wiley (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) had 22 and 19 assists, respectively, while
Claire Zanon (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) and
Nina Torio (Mililani, Hawai'i/Mililani) had 14 and 12 digs for the 'Swords.
In front of over 400 fans packed into Castle Gym, the Sharks came out to defend their home court with purpose and handed the 'Swords the Set 1 loss, ending a streak of 12 consecutive sets won, tied for third-longest in program history.
But Chaminade roared back, taking a 10-5 lead in the second set. Kills from Cernosek and Tecklenburg as well as a pair of aces from Torio helped extend the lead to 17-8 as the Silverswords evened the match.
In the third set, the 'Swords got successful attacks from Bell, Tecklenburg and Cernosek, forced two HPU hitting errors and a Wiley ace to build an 8-1 advantage. The 'Swords continued to pile on then ended the set on a 4-0 run with
Rebekah Kai (Kailua, Hawai'i/Sacred Hearts) at the service line for all four points, one being an ace.
In the fourth, Chaminade rattled off the first six points and built their lead to 16-7. But the Sharks weren't going away quietly in their final home match of the year. HPU closed to within 20-19 but CUH helped to extend the lead behind a
Rachel Reedy (Temple City, Calif./Arcadia) kill and Wiley's third ace of the night. An HPU hitting error made it 23-20 then on match point, Bell closed the door with the match's final kill.
Chaminade hit .234, had 53 kills, 47 assists and 50 digs while HPU hit .144, got 37 kills, 36 assists, 42 digs and seven aces. The Sharks out-blocked the 'Swords, 10-8, but CUH got a season-high 12 service aces to HPU's seven.
The Silverswords close the season Saturday against PacWest champion California Baptist at McCabe Gym with first serve at 7 p.m. The Lancers, ranked No. 2 in the nation, remained undefeated with three-set sweep over Hawai'i Hilo on Friday, improving them to 27-0 overall and 19-0 in the PacWest. Chaminade will be looking to prevent CBU from becoming the first PacWest team to go through the conference slate undefeated since 2012 when BYU-Hawai'i finished 16-0.
Live streaming audio of the match will be on GoSwords.com. It is also "Aloha Senior Night" and will be the final matches for Long,
Hannah Baker (Bellville, Texas/San Jacinto College) and Kai.
