BELMONT, Calif. – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team continued their historic march Thursday with a 25-22, 25-20, 25-18 straight set sweep over Notre Dame de Namur at the Walter Gleason Gymnasium.
Alana Handy (Burlington, Wash./Bethune-Cookman Univ./Burlington-Edison) and
Emma Tecklenburg (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) each tallied double-doubles as the Silverswords rolled to their sixth consecutive win and ninth in their last 10 matches.
Handy had a match-high 16 kills to go along with 21 digs while Tecklenburg, the reigning Pacific West Conference Player of the Week, had 12 kills and 13 digs.
Chaminade improved to 19-4 overall, its best 23-match start in school history. They are also 13-4 in the Pacific West Conference which set another for most conference wins, breaking the previous mark of 12 in 2015. The Silverswords are two victories away from tying the record of 21 set in 1996. It was also the 98th career win for head coach
Kahala Kabalis Hoke.
Although
Brooke Bell (Escondido, Calif./North Idaho College/Calvin Christian HS) couldn't duplicate her record-setting percentage performance on Tuesday at Holy Names, she was still efficient in putting down 10 kills with a .389 attack percentile.
Along with Handy and Tecklenburg,
Nina Torio (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) and
Claire Zanon (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) also had double-digit digs with 12 and 11, respectively.
Kiana Drumheller (Auburn, Wash./Auburn Riverside) tied her career-high with five digs.
All told, the 'Swords came up with 79 digs on the night, breaking the program record for a three-set match. The previous standard was 75 against St. Mary's University (Texas) on Sept. 6, 2008.
Skyler Curry (Thousand Oaks, Calif./Westlake) had 28 assists, her most in a three-set match this season, while
Danielle Wiley (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) had 13 as well as nine digs.
Terezie Cernosek (Santa Clarita, Calif./Valencia) helped provide a wall at the net with five total blocks including two block solos. Bell and Zanon had three each.
The Argonauts (7-17, 6-10 PacWest) were led by Chantal Zahrndt's eight kills, the third straight match the 'Swords did not allow an individual opponent to break double-digits in kills.
Chaminade appeared to have the opening set well in hand with leads of 14-9 and 23-19 but the scrappy Argos battled back to within a point. Handy's kill followed by a Zahrndt hitting error helped give the 'Swords a 1-0 lead.
The second set nearly mirrored the first with Chaminade opening up a lead before NDNU battled back late in the set. A 6-1 'Swords run however helped them take a two-set lead.
In the final set, the Argos managed to force three ties before a 5-1 run helped the Silverswords pull away. NDNU closed to within 21-18 but Chaminade slammed the door shut with the set's final four points including Curry's service ace at aloha ball.
The 'Swords owned the final stat sheet in kills (49-25), assists (47-24) and blocks (9-5). Like Chaminade, the feisty Argos kept nearly everything in play with 63 digs, 23 from Taylor Garcia.
The Silverswords will conclude their road trip Saturday at Fresno Pacific as they seek only their second 20-win season in team history.
