HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team endured one of their toughest matches of the season but in the end, grinded out a 12-25, 25-23, 27-25, 28-26 win over a gritty Fresno Pacific University squad in front of a "White Out" crowd Friday at McCabe Gym.
Freshman
Claire Zanon (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) put down a season-high 18 kills for the Silverswords, who improved to 8-3 overall and remained unbeaten through three Pacific West Conference matches.
Zanon also had 10 digs on the night, giving the libero-turned-outside hitter her 10
th consecutive double-digit dig match.
Emma Tecklenburg (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) also had a double-double with 14 kills and a career-high 19 digs for Chaminade.
Brooke Bell (Escondido, Calif./North Idaho College) added eight kills while
Kira Long (Vista, Calif./Rancho Buena Vista) had seven and
Alexis Hamilton (Miami/Village Christian) six. Tecklenburg also added three service aces.
Malerie Creshaw led the Sunbirds (2-9, 1-2 PacWest) with 12 kills.
Nina Torio (Mililani, Hawai'i/Mililani) had a career-high 18 digs for Chaminade which had 75 digs, its most in a four-set match this season.
In each set they won, the 'Swords had to rally late. In the second set, they trailed 22-19 before moving ahead behind three Zanon kills and another from Long.
The end of the third set proved to be heart-stopping. Chaminade trailed by as many as seven (12-5) before an 8-1 run squared the score at 13. Zanon and Tecklenburg combined for five kills during the rally. But FPU itself battled back and built a 24-21 lead, threatening to go up 2-1 in the pivotal set. But the 'Swords continued to grind, surviving three consecutive set points before their set-ending 6-1 surge. Zanon, Bell and
Terezie Cernosek (Santa Clarita, Calif./Valencia) each put down kills while Chaminade's front line forced two Sunbird attacking errors during the rally.
Finally in the fourth, Fresno Pacific threatened a fifth set, twice serving set point but Chaminade battled, tying the score at 26 then ended it with Tecklenburg's kill and a Hamilton-Cernosek block at aloha ball.
Cernosek and Hamilton accounted for four total blocks each as the 'Swords had the blocking edge, 7-5. But the match was statistically near-even in kills (57-53 CUH), assists (52-51 CUH), digs (81-75 FPU) and aces (6-4 FPU).
The Silverswords' home stand continues Saturday against Dixie State at 3 p.m. as they look for their first 4-0 conference start since 1996 when they were 5-0. Live streaming audio coverage will be available at GoSwords.com.
