FRESNO, Calif. – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team opened their final road trip of the season with a 25-21, 25-16, 25-21 sweep of Fresno Pacific at the Special Events Center.
Kira Long (Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) put down a match- and season-high 17 kills for the Silverswords who improved to 12-11 overall and 7-8 in the Pacific West Conference.
Brooke Bell (Escondido, Calif./North Idaho College) added nine kills while
Claire Zanon (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) had six as the 'Swords spoiled FPU's Senior Night.
Kiana Drumheller (Auburn, Wash./Auburn Riverside),
Terezie Cernosek (Santa Clarita, Calif./Valencia) and
Rachel Reedy (Temple City, Calif./Arcadia) each had four kills.
It was Chaminade's fourth consecutive win over Fresno Pacific and the second straight year they've swept them in straight sets at the Special Events Center.
Malerie Crenshaw led the Sunbirds with 10 kills in her final home match as Chaminade handed FPU just its fourth home loss this season. Fresno Pacific fell to 10-15 and 8-8 in the PacWest.
Long hit .441 (17-2-34) in the contest, her second-highest percentage of the season. She and Cernosek also had three total blocks. Chaminade's defense forced FPU into 24 attack errors for a .134 hitting clip on the night while totaling five team blocks.
Skyler Curry (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) and
Danielle Wiley (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) combined for 34 assists while
Nina Torio (Mililani, Hawai'i/Mililani) and Zanon had 14 and 13 digs, respectively, with Curry adding seven.
Chaminade used a 5-1 run at the end of the first set to snap a 20-all deadlock in the first set with two kills from Long, another from Bell and a Cernosek solo block.
In the second set, the 'Swords snapped a 5-5 tie by going on a 12-5 run with Long's five kills including four straight at one point. She also had a block assist during the rally and totaled seven kills with no errors on eight swings in the set with Chaminade hitting .500 as a team.
But Fresno Pacific wasn't about end their final home match without a fight, building a 10-7 lead in the third set and held a 20-19 advantage. CUH then scored the next five points with Long, fittingly, putting down the final swing of the night to give Chaminade the victory.
The 'Swords hit .287 and committed just one reception error, their lowest of the season.
The Silverswords continue their road trip Wednesday when they face Holy Names in Oakland.
