IRVINE, Calif. – Chaminade University dominated the Pacific West Conference women's volleyball postseason awards Tuesday by earning four of the six major awards and placing six on the all-conference teams as voted by the PacWest coaches.
Outside hitter
Brooklen Pe'a (Woods Cross, Utah/Youngstown State/Bountiful HS) was named the PacWest Player of the Year, setter
Alexia Byrnes (Chicago/Youngstown State/Saint Francis HS) the Setter and Newcomer of the Year and
Kahala Kabalis Hoke the Coach of the Year.
Pe'a, Byrnes and libero
Anna Dalla Vecchia (Vicenza, Italy/University of San Francisco/IIS S.B. Boscardin HS) were named to the All-PacWest First Team. Earning All-PacWest Second Team kudos are outside hitter
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS) and middle blockers
Kyra McCain (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton) and
Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hill, Calif./Oakwood).
Pe'a earned the PacWest's top honor after averaging 2.98 kills and 2.31 digs while accounting for 30 service aces and 42 total blocks. She is Chaminade's first conference player of the year honoree since Doris Bikar shared the award in 1997.
Byrnes, a transfer from Youngstown State, set a single season program record with 1,127 assists, averaging 9.39, and finished second on the team in digs with 337 (2.81 per set). A six-rotation player, the junior also accounted for 139 kills and 34 total blocks, making the junior a threat on both sides of the net.
Dalla Vecchia originally intended to redshirt the year while she adjusted to being a graduate student in Hawai'i after graduating from the University of San Francisco. However, with a season-ending injury to projected starter
Leka Kiner-Falefa (Honolulu/UNLV/Mid-Pacific Institute) before the start of the season, Dalla Vecchia was pressed into duty and proceeded to shatter school records in digs (619) and digs per set (5.16).
Like Dalla Vecchia, Corti came to Chaminade as a USF transfer. The second-year freshman put together a solid all-around campaign, finishing third in digs (316), fourth in kills (249) and blocks (48.0) and fifth (23) in aces.
McCain finished the regular season among the PacWest leaders in hitting percentage at a .312 clip. She also finished outside the conference's top 10 in blocks per set at 0.85.
Saulala ended the season ranked third in the conference in attack percentage (.338) and sixth in blocks per set (0.92). It is her second all-conference selection having also been named to the second team in 2019.
In guiding the Silverswords to their first PacWest championship in 25 years, Kabalis Hoke guided the Silverswords to a program-record 27 wins, the third consecutive year with 20-plus wins (excluding the pandemic-shortened spring 2021 season). The program had just one 20-win season prior to its current streak.
The No. 24 Silverswords won their first PacWest championship in a quarter-century, setting a program record with 27 wins and earning their fourth overall berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the West Region.
The 'Swords will face sixth-seeded Central Washington in San Bernardino, California, on Thursday, Dec. 2, at 12 p.m. Pacific time. It will be the second meeting of the season between the two squads with the Silverswords winning the Sept. 5 match in five sets at the Western Washington Invitational. The winner advances to the West Region semifinals to face the Western Washington-Simon Fraser winner on Friday, Dec. 3.
PacWest Postseason Volleyball Awards
Player of the Year –
Brooklen Pe'a, Chaminade
Setter of the Year –
Alexia Byrnes, Chaminade
Libero of the Year – Courtney Dyer, Point Loma
Newcomer of the Year –
Alexia Byrnes, Chaminade
Freshman of the Year – Ashley Mechem, Academy of Art
Coach of the Year –
Kahala Kabalis Hoke, Chaminade
All-PacWest First Team
Alexia Byrnes, S, Chaminade
Bria Beale, OH, Hawai'i Hilo
Brooklen Pe'a, OH, Chaminade
Courtney Dyer, L, Point Loma
Anna Dalla Vecchia, L, Chaminade
Madison Beebe, OH, Biola
Annaka Jorgenson, OH, Azusa Pacific
Corinne Acosta, OH, Fresno Pacific
Brianna Latigue, S, Concordia
Bailey Henington, L, Azusa Pacific
Vanessa Garcia, S, Biola
Sami Hover, L, Biola
All-PacWest Second Team
Kyra McCain, MB, Chaminade
Lataisia Saulala, MB, Chaminade
Ashley Mecham, MB, Academy of Art
Kirra Schulz, OH, Concordia
Hannah Tostado, MB, Concordia
Greta Corti, OH, Chaminade
Kyra Palmbush, MB, Azusa Pacific
Katarina Radisic, OH, Azusa Pacific
Jalyssa Sanchez, MB, Concordia
Picabo Reinhold, S, Academy of Art
Anna Masari, MB, Point Loma
Elena Torres, L, Academy of Art
