HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's volleyball faced off against nationally-ranked California Baptist Saturday and was hoping to make Aloha Senior Night even more memorable.
Instead the Lancers spoiled the festive crowd gathered at McCabe Gym in a 25-19, 25-23, 25-16 win.
Playing in her final career match, outside hitter
Kira Long (Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) matched her season-high with 17 kills and hit .400 on the night for the Silversword who saw their five-match winning streak snapped, ending their season at 16-12 overall and 11-9 in the Pacific West Conference.
It was also the final matches for setter
Hannah Baker (Bellville, Texas/San Jacinto College) and defensive specialist
Rebekah Kai (Kailua, Hawai'i/Sacred Hearts Academy).
The Lancers, ranked No. 2 in the latest AVCA Top-25 Poll, are the highest ranked foe the 'Swords have faced since 2004 when UC San Diego was also ranked second nationally. Madison Witt and Lauren Hackett each had 12 kills in the win.
CBU, who came to the islands earlier this week having already clinched the PacWest championship and the conference's automatic berth into the NCAA West Regional, completed an undefeated regular season at 28-0 and 20-0. They are the first PacWest school to run the table in the conference since BYU-Hawai'i went 16-0 in 2012.
It was also the final meeting between the two programs which had played regularly as conference members since 2011. CBU is moving to the Division I ranks next season.
Emma Tecklenburg (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) and
Rachel Reedy (Temple City, Calif./Arcadia) each put down seven kills for Chaminade while
Brooke Bell (Escondido, Calif./North Idaho College) had five kills and two blocks.
Skyler Curry (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) led the 'Swords with 16 assists while
Claire Zanon (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) had a match-best 14 digs.
Baker had four assists and an ace in her final match while Kai saw action in the second set and made three serves.
Chaminade's best chance at a set win was in the second. Although they led 7-1 to start, CBU battled back, took a 15-12 lead and eventually built it to 23-21. The 'Swords tied it behind a Lancer attack error and an ace from
Isabella Tessitore (San Diego/Torrey Pines) but Hackett's kill and an ace from Nicci Hinderaker ended the set and put CBU up 2-0.
In the final set, CBU used a 7-1 run to break open a 17-14 lead which helped end the match.
Although CBU had the decisive edge in aces (10-2), total team blocks (11-3) and hitting efficiency (nine attack errors to CUH's 19), on paper, the contest was closer than it seemed. While the Lancers had 41 kills, 37 assists and 36 digs, the 'Swords in comparison had 40 kills, the same number of assists and out-dug them with 40.
Also Chaminade's 58 points were the third-most scored against the Lancers in a three-set match by a conference foe this season.
Tecklenburg finished with a 3.77 kills per set average, third-highest in the PacWest. She also averaged 0.36 aces which seven-best.
Danielle Wiley (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) finished seventh among all qualifying setters with a 6.31 assists average while Zanon's 3.80 digs put her in ninth.
The Silverswords concluded the season tied for sixth in the PacWest with Dixie State.
