The youthful Chaminade University women's tennis program is showing signs of a return to prominence.
Posting three wins in 2019 marked the first time in seven years the program won multiple matches.
"We were blessed with 15 matches this year," fifth-year head coach
Ty Aki said. "The first three were scrimmages against some very strong teams. The next 12 gave our Lady Silverswords the building blocks to play their best tennis. This did set the tone for our ladies to get their game ready for a number of good schools that came to play us this season."
Led by sophomores
Catrina Liner (Corvallis, Ore./Corvallis) and Salamasina Te'i (Hau'ula, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Kahuku), the Silverswords experienced early struggles before finally breaking through with their three wins – all consecutively – in mid-March.
The 'Swords got consistency in singles action all year with Liner playing all 27 of her contests in the No. 1 spot in both singles and doubles while Te'i played all 13 of her singles matches at No. 2 and had won four straight singles matches at one point.
Elyssa Shirai (Waipahu, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Pearl City) locked down the No. 3 singles position while
Cai Yan Fang (Zhongshan, China) played all but two of her 14 singles matches at No. 4. The return of
Tomomi Kohno (Tokyo, Japan), who sat out 2018, helped solidify the No. 5 singles spot while newcomer
Caitlin Tatemichi (Honolulu/Roosevelt), who made a successful transition from the soccer pitch to the tennis court, and
Angelica Almilla (Laguna, Philippines/Farrington) shared the No. 6 spot.
The team also got a doubles win from the duo of
Nicole Nishiki (Mililani, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Mililani) and
Kirstin Wong (Laguna Niguel, Calif./Aliso Niguel) against Mills College on March 17 which was their first-ever match. Like Tatemichi, both migrated to the team from the soccer program.
With four doubles victories, Fang actually led the team in total victories with eight followed by Te'i with seven.
"They were able to win several matches to boost our record and, by the end of the season, they were able to give their best performance to finish the season on a positive note," Aki said.
With Tatemichi as the team's only primary player not returning when the calendar flips to the next decade, the 'Swords have the potential to make noise in the Pacific West Conference in 2020.
"We are certainly looking forward to the coming year," Aki said.
