IRVINE, Calif. – Twenty-four hours after being routed in La Mirada, the Chaminade University women's volleyball team redeemed themselves.
In a building that they have never had success, no less.
Kyra McCain (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton) put down a career-high 19 kills and had three blocks while hitting .421 as the Silverswords got a much-needed – and perhaps even badly-needed – 25-23, 25-20, 16-25, 25-16 win over Concordia University Irvine Tuesday.
Much-needed in that it ended Chaminade's curse at CU Arena, where they walked out with an 'L' in all five prior attempts.
Badly-needed in respects to having started out the difficult Southern California road trip with a three-set loss at Biola an evening earlier.
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/University of San Francisco/Alessandro Liceo Manzoni HS) had 13 kills and 17 digs for the 'Swords while
Marcelle Butler (Woodstock, Ga./Howard University/Sequoyah HS) and
Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hill, Calif./Oakwood) contributed with 10 kills each.
Saulala had four blocks including two solo while Butler had three blocks as Chaminade swept the season series against Concordia for the first time ever.
Meanwhile Chaminade came up with 88 digs, a season-high in four-set matches this season.
Anna Dalla Vecchia (Vicenza, Italy/University of San Francisco/IIS S.B. Boscardin HS) had 20 digs, giving her 475 on the year. She needs just seven to pass Brenda Walker's 481 for second and 15 to break the school's single-season record of 489 held by teammate
Leka Kiner-Falefa (Honolulu/UNLV/Mid-Pacific Institute), who is out for the season due to an injury.
Dalla Vecchia and Corti were two of five 'Swords in the double-digit digs category.
Tate Lutu (Honolulu/Sacred Hearts Academy) had 11 and
Alexia Byrnes (Chicago/Youngstown State/Saint Francis HS) had 17 to along with 40 assists.
Brooklen Pe'a (Woods Cross, Utah/Youngstown State/Bountiful HS) came up with 18.
Chaminade improved to 20-5 on the year, its third consecutive 20-win season, not including the COVID-19-shortened spring 2021. They are also 10-3 in the Pacific West Conference, just percentage points behind second-place Hawai'i Hilo (9-2 PacWest) and league-leading Azusa Pacific (8-1).
Patience O'Neal had 14 kills for the Eagles (13-6, 8-4 PacWest) who saw their four-match winning streak – including 12 consecutive sets won – snapped.
Chaminade had a seemingly comfortable 20-14 lead in the opening set before CUI rallied to close within a single point on three different occasions. However McCain's kill on set point ended it to help them take the first set, a feat they had never accomplished in Irvine since the Eagles joined the conference in 2015.
The 'Swords opened up a 17-10 in the second although the Eagles closed to within 17-14. But the next 10 points were all sideouts and with Chaminade up 23-19, Byrnes hit a dump shot to set up set point which Pe'a ended it to put them up two-sets-to-none, a reversal in previous visits to CU Arena. In each of their last four trips, the 'Swords trailed 0-2.
CUI came back to win the third set but the 'Swords scored the first five points of the fourth to set the tone. Chaminade would own as many as an eight-point advantage in the frame then outscored them, 5-1, to end the match.
The 'Swords out-hit the Eagles, .245 to .147, and produced more kills (64-to-45), assists (57-to-42) and digs (88-to-82). Chaminade also out-blocked Concordia, 8-to-3.
The Silverswords will close their road trip Thursday at Point Loma (12-7, 8-3 PacWest) as they look to win multiple matches in SoCal for the first time since 2015. First serve is set for 7 p.m. local time.
