SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – Perhaps it was playing in an unfamiliar arena. Perhaps it was the two-week layoff.
Whatever the case, the magical ride for the Chaminade University women's volleyball team came to a bittersweet conclusion Thursday, dropping their opening round NCAA West Regional match to Central Washington, 17-25, 26-24, 25-22, 25-13 at the Coussoulis Arena.
The third-seeded and Pacific West Conference champion Silverswords saw their eight-match winning streak end to finish their season with a 27-6 mark.
Annah Rivera (Granada Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany) led Chaminade with 10 kills while PacWest Player of the Year
Brooklen Pe'a (Woods Cross, Utah/Youngstown State/Bountiful HS) added eight with 16 digs.
Despite an injury scare just two points into the match,
Alexia Byrnes (Chicago/Youngstown State/Saint Francis) dished out 22 assists and did her usual efficient work in spreading the attack. Putting down seven kills each were
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/University of San Francisco/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS),
Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hill, Calif./Oakwood) while
Kyra McCain (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton) added six. Byrnes herself had seven kills along with 15 digs. Saulala also had four total blocks, two solo.
Libero
Anna Dalla Vecchia (Vicenza, Italy/University of San Francisco/IIS S.B. Boscardin HS) wrapped up her record-setting season with 12 digs in the final match of her career.
The Wildcats (17-8), seeded No. 6 in the West, were led by Tia Andaya, who recorded 11 kills, 20 assists and 16 digs, her eighth triple-double of the season. Marianna Payne led the match with 14 kills. It also avenged their five-set loss to Chaminade in Bellingham, Wash., back on Sept. 5.
"You have to give it to Central Washington, they didn't let the ball hit the floor, they played relentless defense which is something that we usually have the edge over our opponents," Silverswords head coach
Kahala Kabalis Hoke said. "They really worked hard for those points. It's usually something we came on top of with long rallies, knowing that was our strength, being the steadier team of who we faced. That wasn't us today."
"Our competitiveness was great," Dalla Vecchia said of the season as a whole. "It was amazing. We won the conference, which hadn't been done in 25 years and we broke some records. But it was definitely a tough loss today."
With a 13-day layoff since the end of the regular season and being in a venue the program hasn't been in since 2002, those circumstances didn't seem to faze the 'Swords early. Not even an early injury scare to Byrnes with the score tied at 1 rattled them.
With reserve setter
Alecza Abary (Fontana, Calif./Rancho Cucamonga) being summoned, the junior helped Chaminade take a 16-11 lead behind a 7-2 run. Byrnes returned at 16-11 as they closed out the opening set by winning eight of the final 11 points.
The 'Swords found themselves down 24-21 in the second but rallied to tie it at 24 with two errors and a Pe'a kill. But CWU secured the tying set by winning the last two points.
Chaminade appeared to gain the upper hand in the third set with leads of 17-13 and 22-19. However, the Wildcats stunned them with six straight points to go up by a set.
The 'Swords jumped out to a 5-2 lead in the fourth, only to see CWU score 10 of the set's next 11 points for 12-6 advantage. CUH rallied to within two points on four different occasions, the last at 15-13. However the Wildcats shocked the 'Swords with a match-ending 10-0 run to bring a stunning and a premature end to 2021.
After hitting .387 in the first set, the 'Swords couldn't right the ship in the final three, hitting just .004 for a match percentage of .109 while CWU hit .189. The Wildcats had 45 kills to CUH's 41 and out-blocked Chaminade 8-to-6.
"I'm so proud of what they've done and what our past players have done to build the program to be a powerhouse in our conference," Kabalis Hoke said. "(As the lone PacWest team in the regional), we're just disappointed we couldn't represent the conference well because we have such a strong conference and we wish more of our team would have had the opportunity to be here at the regionals. They deserve to be here and we feel we let (the PacWest) down."
However, the disappointment doesn't erase the memorable year by the Silverswords who set a program record in wins and played in the month of December for the first time in team history.
"So for us to represent a school that we are passionate about – we get so much support from our staff and admin, they put it all out there for us – it's huge for us to recruit high-level athletes to our program," Kabalis Hoke said.
"As far as building our program, we're getting there and it's just understanding that we do have what it takes. We don't need a big school, a big gym. We just need players that will go out there and take care of business. We hope to be here again next year and get another shot at this."
With most of this year's starters returning minus Dalla Vecchia, the fire has been lit for 2022.
