HILO, Hawai'i – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team opened their final tournament of the spring 2021 season by splitting its two matches Friday at the PacWest Hawai'i Spring Tournament at the University of Hawai'i Hilo Gymnasium.
The Silverswords rolled past Alaska Anchorage in straight sets, 25-22, 25-21, 25-19 in their afternoon opener, their first non-PacWest opponent – and first outside the state of Hawai'i, for that matter – of the season while handing the Seawolves just their second defeat of the season.
The 'Swords dropped their second match of the day, 25-20, 21-25, 27-25, 22-25, 16-14, to 25th-ranked UH Hilo in the nightcap, the fourth time this season the two squads played to a fifth set.
Rachel Reedy (Temple City, Calif./Arcadia) totaled 27 kills on Friday while
Brooklen Pe'a (Woods Cross, Utah/Youngstown State/Bountiful HS) added 24 along with eight service aces.
Needing 37 digs to tie
Brenda Walker's school record of 1,239,
Claire Zanon (Beaverton, Ore./Jesuit) got exactly that number on Friday including 30 in the nightcap match.
Chaminade is 6-8 on the season, 5-8 in the PacWest, heading into its final two matches of the season.
Chaminade 3, Alaska Anchorage 0
Pe'a and Reedy accounted for five of the match's first nine points with the Silverswords jumped out to an 8-1 lead which, in essence, help set the tone of the contest. The Seawolves closed to within a point several times in the set including at 23-22 before the 'Swords closed it out.
Alaska Anchorage, which handed UH Hilo a loss to end its nine-match winning streak earlier in the day, scored the first point of the second set, its only lead of the entire match. Reedy and
Annah Rivera (Granada Hills, Calif./Bishop Alemany) combined for Chaminade's next five kills to help the 'Swords get off to another quick start. The Seawolves narrowed the gap to 17-16 but a 5-1 Chaminade run would help close the set for a 2-0 lead.
Up 17-15 in the third set, Pe'a accounted for half the points during Chaminade's 6-1 run which helped them clinch the sweep.
Reedy had match-high 15 kills and hit .591 in the match while Pe'a added another 10 and hit .391. Pe'a also contributed with 11 digs. Rivera put down another nine attacks.
Danielle Wiley (Peoria, Ariz./Centennial) had 37 assists and three aces. Pe'a,
Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hill, Calif./Oakwood) and
Kyra McCain (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton) had two blocks each.
Chaminade hit .379 in the match to UAA's .253 while producing more kills (46 to 32), assists (44 to 29) and digs (36 to 23).
Mahala Kaapuni, a Hilo High School graduate making a return to her hometown, paced Alaska Anchorage (10-2) with 10 kills.
UH Hilo 3, Chaminade 2
Friday's match between the Silverswords and national-ranked Vulcans was the seventh meeting of the season, the most ever between the two longtime rivals. It evens exceeds the number of meetings during the days of NAIA District 29 in the 1980s when the Hawai'i schools faced each other an inordinate number of times including in district playoffs.
Missed opportunities proved to be the theme for Chaminade. In the third set, the 'Swords were up 24-22 and had three chances to take a 2-sets-to-1 lead. UH Hilo took advantage of a reception error which opened the door for them to take the match lead.
The biggest, however, was in the fifth. The 'Swords had leads of 5-1 and 10-6 but could not slam the door shut. The Vulcans seized the opportunity with timely points and a block at match point to win the final meeting of the season.
Pe'a put down 14 kills in the match while also adding six aces, the most by a Silversword this season, and 15 digs, her eighth double-double of the year. Reedy and Saulala each had 12 kills and the duo combined for five blocks. Wiley dished out 35 assists and 10 digs in addition to Zanon's 30 digs which tied Walker's record.
Chaminade hit .146 to UH Hilo's .170 and had 12 aces to their nine, although the Vulcans out-blocked the 'Swords, 12 to 10.
Bria Beale paced the Vulcans with 17 kills. UH Hilo also won its fourth straight against the 'Swords and finished 6-1 against them in the spring.
The Silverswords end the season Saturday when they meet Alaska Anchorage at 10 a.m. then Hawai'i Pacific University at 2:30 p.m.
