POMONA, Calif. – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team came away with a split for the second straight day at the D2 West Region Volleyball Showcase at Cal Poly Pomona's Kellogg Arena on Saturday.
The Silverswords opened the final day with a disappointing 26-24, 19-25, 27-25, 30-28 loss to Seattle Pacific.
However Chaminade bounced back in the Pomona pod's finale with a 25-20, 28-30, 25-17, 25-16 win over Cal State Monterey Bay, the first meeting between the schools since September 2009.
Despite the loss to SPU,
Emma Tecklenburg (Plano, Texas/Plano Senior) put down 14 kills, giving her 1,001 in her career, becoming just the seventh player in school history to reach the millennium milestone. She dropped 13 more against CSUMB giving her 27 on the day.
Rachel Reedy (Temple City, Calif./Arcadia) had 26 kills on the day while
Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hills, Calif./Oakwood) added 24.
Chaminade (6-2), which wrapped up non-conference action, finished with a 2-2 mark in the Showcase's Pomona pod as did Seattle Pacific, CSUMB and Hawai'i Hilo. No. 3 Western Washington was the only unbeaten at 4-0 while host Cal Poly Pomona went winless.
Seattle Pacific 3, Chaminade 1
Early on, it appeared the Falcons were going to breeze through the first set, building as many as a 19-12 lead. But Chaminade roared back on a 10-1 run with Reedy accounting for three points on two kills and a block to put them ahead 22-20. The 'Swords couldn't hold on with SPU scoring the set's final four points.
Chaminade wasn't done with massive comebacks. This time, down 14-6 in the second set, the 'Swords surged on a 15-0 tsunami that saw Tecklenburg camping out at the service line during the run. During the rally, she had three of her four aces and also put down a kill while
Annah Rivera (Granada Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany) had three kills of her own.
But in the third set, it was the Falcons mounting a late comeback, rallying from down 23-21 and staving off three set points to go up 2-1.
Chaminade nearly returned the favor in the fourth, rallying from down 24-21 to force extra points. Both teams fought off set point twice from that point but in the end it was SPU that got needed points to take the match in four.
Along with Tecklenburg's milestone performance, Reedy put down 17 kills, a season-high while Saulala added nine and Rivera eight.
Danielle Wiley (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) had a season-high 31 assists followed by 21 from
Natashya Enos (Kahalu'u, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Saint Francis).
The 'Swords managed 86 digs in the match, 25 from
Leka Kiner-Falefa (Honolulu/UNLV/Mid-Pacific Institute) and 21 from
Claire Zanon (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit).
However, SPU (3-5) tallied a whopping 15 total team blocks with three Falcons getting seven blocks. Maddie Batiste had a match-high 20 kills in the win, snapping a three-match losing streak to the 'Swords.
Chaminade 3, Cal State Monterey Bay 1
After capturing the first set, the 'Swords were poised to go up 2-0 but ended up squandering a 24-20 lead. The Otters went on a 5-0 run and eventually served for the set four times before finally getting the two points needed to tie the match.
However it only delayed the inevitable. Chaminade used an 8-1 run midway through the third to go up 2-1. And in the fourth, the Silverswords reversed an 12-11 deficit with the help of a 13-1 blitz for a fourth set romp.
Saulala had a match- and career-high 15 kills while hitting .353 and adding four blocks.
Alana Handy (Burlington, Wash./Bethune-Cookman Univ./Burlington-Edison HS) posted 14 kills, tying her season-high while Tecklenburg's 13 kills pushed her career total to 1,014.
Enos dished out 29 assists with Wiley adding 19. Kiner-Falefa picked up 19 digs and five service aces while Rivera had 10 digs and nine kills to the mix.
Chaminade dominated nearly every statistical category including kills (65-42), assists (61-39), digs (62-46) and aces (9-5). CSUMB held the edge in blocks (12-8).
Jenna Tobin led the Otters (4-3) with 14 kills.
With non-conference action over, the Silverswords can now look forward to the start of the Pacific West Conference slate. The 'Swords open conference action Thursday against in-city rival Hawai'i Pacific University at McCabe Gymnasium.
Hawai'i Pacific Health is the match sponsor and has been designated as a "Pink Out Night." The first 250 fans in attendance will receive a pink "shaka" foam hand while HPH Swag Bags and other prizes will be given out during the match.
