HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team started their weekend off right by sweeping past Dominican University of California Friday, 25-15, 25-22, 25-11, at McCabe Gymnasium.
Setters
Alexia Byrnes (Chicago/Youngstown State/Saint Francis HS) and
Alecza Abary (Fontana, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) helped spread the aloha around as six Silverswords had at least four kills. Bynes had 22 assists and Abary 14 to help the 24th-ranked squad in Division II improve to 18-4 overall. With an 8-2 Pacific West Conference mark, the 'Swords are just a half-game behind conference leaders Hawai'i Hilo and Azusa Pacific (8-1). It also gave head coach
Kahala Kabalis Hoke career win No. 149.
Brooklen Pe'a (Woods Cross, Utah/Youngstown State/Bountiful HS) led the parade with a match-high 10 kills while
Marcelle Butler (Woodstock, Ga./Howard University/Sequoyah HS) added nine.
Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hill, Calif./Oakwood) and
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/University of San Francisco/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS) contributed seven each. Freshman middle blocker
Alyssa Grodell (Valencia, Calif./Valencia), making her third consecutive start, tied her career high with six kills while hitting .444.
Annah Rivera (Granada Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany) put down four.
Even Byrnes, who had 22 assists, got into the act with three kills of her own, all coming in the first set.
Saulala hit .462 and had four blocks including two solo while Grodell pushed back three
Kiana Pelton led the Penguins (1-16, 1-7 PacWest) with seven kills.
The match, which took a season-low 64 minutes to complete, represented the 30th consecutive win against a PacWest Northern California squad, which dates back to October 2017.
Chaminade used an 11-2 run early to help take the first set. Dominican fought back from an 11-4 second set deficit and got to within 20-18. From there, the teams sided-out points for the rest of the set as the Silverswords to a two-set advantage.
The 'Swords basically owned the final set, hitting .333 and forced nine Penguin attack errors. DUC had just three kills in the set and hit minus-.200.
Anna Dalla Vecchia (Vicenza, Italy/University of San Francisco/IIS S.B. Boscardin HS) had 10 digs, extending her streak of double-digits digs to 11. She has also reached double-digits in all but one match this season. Corti and Abary were one dig shy of joining Dalla Vecchia in the double-digit category.
Pe'a and
Tatiana Toleafoa (Union City, Calif./Cal State Fullerton/James Logan HS) each had two service aces.
Chaminade hit an impressive .327 in the match, its third-highest percentage of the season. They put down 47 kills as a team with 41 assists, 48 digs, six aces and seven total team blocks.
Dominican hit just .083 with 24 kills, 23 assists, 30 digs and 6.5 blocks.
The Silverswords will close out their five-match home stand Wednesday when they host in-city rival Hawai'i Pacific University at McCabe Gym. First serve is set for 7 p.m.
