FRESNO, Calif. – Midway through their first conference road trip of the season, the Chaminade University women's volleyball team got a little more than they bargained for on Wednesday.
The Silverswords rolled early then survived a determined Fresno Pacific squad in their 25-17, 25-20, 28-30, 25-20 win at the Special Event Center.
Emma Tecklenburg (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) smashed down a season-high 18 kills while
Rachel Reedy (Temple City, Calif./Arcardia),
Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hill, Calif./Oakwood) and
Annah Rivera (Granada Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany) each added 15, tying season-highs for both Saulala and Rivera.
The Silverswords won their sixth straight in improving to 11-2 overall and 5-0 in the Pacific West Conference. It was also Chaminade's school-record 12th consecutive road win and its 13th straight in the PacWest's Northern California region.
Meanwhile Tecklenburg moved into a tie for fifth in the school's career kills list with 1,074, joining her current head coach
Kahala Kabalis Hoke (2002-04) and Hinano Warfield (1995-98).
Libero
Leka Kiner-Falefa (Honolulu/UNLV/Mid-Pacific Institute) had 31 digs – a new career-high going back to her freshman season at the University of North Texas – which is the sixth-most by a Silversword since records were kept in 2006. It's also the most by a Silversword since October 2014. Rivera had 19 digs while
Claire Zanon (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) contributed with 10 for the 'Swords, whose 82 team digs are the most in a four-set match since November 2013.
Natashya Enos (Kahalu'u, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Saint Francis) dished out 29 assists while
Alecza Abary (Fontana, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga HS) had 17. Kiner-Falefa and Enos each had one service aces with the former getting her conference-leading 22nd on the year while the latter extended her streak of at least one ace to 11 straight matches.
Miska Legatova and Corinne Acosta led the Sunbirds (1-14, 1-6 PacWest) with 14 kills each.
Fresno Pacific played better than its record indicated in the first set, staying within two of the 'Swords before
Alana Handy (Burlington, Wash./Bethune-Cookman Univ./Burlington-Edison HS) put down consecutive kills as part of a 6-1 run to help Chaminade take the first set.
The 'Swords used a pair of 4-0 runs to help them take a 2-0 lead and it seemed it would be their sixth straight three-set night in NorCal.
However the introduction of Fresno Pacific's new mascot, Sunny the Sunbird, during the intermission between the second and third sets seemed to energize the home crowd with FPU hanging around throughout the set. The 'Swords managed to hold off the Sunbirds late but squandered four shots at match point which helped send the match to a fourth set, ending their streak of consecutive sets won in NorCal at 18.
Fresno Pacific rode the momentum by grabbing a 9-7 lead in the fourth. But Saulala and Reedy each put down three kills as part of a 13-6 run to build CUH's lead to 20-15. The Sunbirds closed to within 23-20 but Tecklenburg put down her final kill of the night then Zanon delivered the team's sixth ace to end the match.
The 'Swords piled up 70 kills with a .245 attack percentage and 61 assists while the Sunbirds had were held to 46 kills, 43 assists and a hitting percentage of .149. Chaminade had 84 digs on the night and had six total team blocks. Saulala had three while
Rae Montrose (Cedar Hills, Utah/Lone Peak) and Reedy each had a block solo and block assist.
The Silverswords move back to the Bay Area for their next match, Friday at Holy Names.
