BELLINGHAM, Wash. – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team was looking to put the capper in a weekend where they have already made a strong statement.
However, Western Washington wasn't about to surrender home court easily.
The Silverswords saw their undefeated mark at the Western Washington Invitational end, dropping a 25-20, 22-25, 25-23, 25-18 decision in Sunday's tournament finale at Carver Gymnasium.
The 'Swords (6-2) saw their four-match winning streak snapped while the Vikings (3-0), ranked No. 14 in the AVCA Division II Top 25 Coaches Poll, won their 12th consecutive home match dating back to the end of the 2019 season.
Despite a sour end to their road trip, the 'Swords certainly opened some eyes in the west region and nationally by going 3-1 in the Invitational including an upset over No. 11 MSU Denver on Saturday.
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/University of San Francisco/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS) put down a team-high 14 kills with 14 digs followed by
Brooklen Pe'a (Woods Cross, Utah/Youngstown State/Bountiful HS) with 13 and 12, respectively.
Gabby Gunterman had a match-high 16 kills for Western Washington.
After dropping the first set, Chaminade roared back in the second, using a 5-0 run to take a 21-17 lead and eventually the win to square the match.
In the crucial third set with the score knotted at six, the teams traded points in nine consecutive serves until WWU got two natural points to take a 15-11 edge. But the 'Swords ran off four straight with Pe'a accounting for all four (two kills, two blocks). The teams again traded sideouts for eight straight serves before the Vikings were able to get another natural point to keep a two-point lead and the eventual set win.
The fourth set saw the 'Swords lead by as many as three points at 12-9 before Western Washington ran off 10 of the next 15 points. Chaminade drew to 20-18 on Pe'a's kill but WWU middle blocker Olivia Fairchild took over. She helped account for all five points in the Vikings' match-ending 5-0 run with two kills and three blocks.
Chaminade hit just .090 with 34 attack errors while Western Washington hit .189 with 20 errors. WWU also outblocked CUH by a 15-8 count.
Kyra McCain (Chandler, Ariz./Hamilton) had four total blocks while
Alexia Byrnes (Chicago/Youngstown State/Saint Francis HS) dished out 39 assists and 14 digs.
Anna Dalla Vecchia (Vicenza, Italy/University of San Francisco/IIS S.B. Boscardin HS) had 24 digs.
Corti, Dalla Vecchia and Byrnes were named to the all-tournament team. Western Washington's Malia Aleaga was selected as the most valuable player.
The Silverswords return home to host the Hawai'i Challenge starting Friday at McCabe Gymnasium. The University of Hawai'i Hilo, Cal State East Bay, Montana State Billings and Saint Martin's comprise the remainder of the field.
The tournament gets underway Friday at noon with MSU Billings facing CSU East Bay. Chaminade's first match will be Saturday at 1 p.m. against MSUB. Due to City and County of Honolulu restrictions, no fans will be allowed to attend, although all 10 matches will have complementary video streaming.
