HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team concluded their four-match Southern California road trip Saturday by posting a 22-25, 28-26, 28-26, 25-21 win over Azusa Pacific at the Felix Center.
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/Univ. of San Francisco/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS) set season-highs of 18 kills and 18 digs while
Sasha Colombo (Milan, Italy/Colorado State/Liceo Scientifico Giordano Bruno HS) continued her recent torrid run with 15 kills and a .344 attack percentage as the Silverswords won all four matches in the always-daunting region.
In essence, they created history.
Chaminade became just the second team since the Pacific West Conference's expansion into Southern California to sweep four road matches in the region since California Baptist did it during their undefeated 20-0 conference season in 2017.
However, the Silverswords are the first team outside of the SoCal pod to win all four. Fresno Pacific in 2012 and BYU-Hawai'i in 2013 also posted SoCal road sweeps but that was when the PacWest had just three teams in the region (Azusa Pacific, Cal Baptist and Point Loma).
The 'Swords improved to 13-6 overall and 8-0 in the PacWest, extending their school-record conference winning streak to 16 straight dating back to last season.
Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hill, Calif./Oakwood) added 12 kills, hit .455 and had three total blocks while
Alexia Byrnes (Chicago/Youngstown State/Saint Francis HS) provided 37 assists, 11 digs and three service aces.
Nanna Inoue (Kula, Maui, Hawai'i/Tyler JC/King Kekaulike HS) also provided 18 digs with
Brooklen Pe'a (Woods Cross, Utah/Youngstown State/Bountiful HS) complemented her seven kills with 14 digs.
The Cougars (8-8, 4-3 PacWest) were paced by Annaka Jorgenson's 20 kills.
The match did not get off to a great start for Chaminade, facing deficits of 6-1 and 21-14. The 'Swords trailed 23-16 but found a way to make things interesting towards the ending of the first set by scoring five straight points before APU managed to close it out.
In the second set, the Cougars had a chance to put the 'Swords in a bind, grabbing a 23-21 edge. Chaminade replied with a Corti kill and getting a setting error to tie it at 23. From there, the set teetered in both directions with both teams getting two cracks at set point. Finally at Chaminade's third set point,
Sophie Schilling (Berlin, Germany/Alaska/Schul- and Leistungsportszentrum Berlin HS) got a spike to drop to give the 'Swords the Set 2 win and square the match at 1.
In the third, it was Chaminade's turn to grab a 23-21 lead. But like how the second set ended, the lead swayed both sides. CUH had set point at 24-23 while APU had its chances at 25-24 and 26-25. However, a service error was followed by a hitting error then Saulala put down the set-ending kill to give Chaminade a 2-1 lead.
In what proved to be the final set, the 'Swords trailed just once which came at the opening point. After Corti's kill, Inoue tallied her second ace of the evening to put Chaminade ahead to stay. Their lead swelled to as many as 18-9 although APU made the situation uneasy towards the end, closing to within 24-21. But following a timeout, Schilling got the match winner to fall.
Chaminade, who was just 1-7 all-time in the Felix Event Center entering Saturday, had 66 kills to Azusa Pacific's 54 and had eight aces to APU's seven. After being out-blocked 7-to-1 after the first two sets, the 'Swords turned the tables on the Cougars, out-blocking them 6-to-1 in Sets 3 and 4. And after being out-hit .364 to .256 in the opening set, the 'Swords turned around their efficiency, finishing the match by hitting .243 to APU's .227. They were also out-dug by just one (74-73).
The Silverswords return home to McCabe Gymnasium where they open their final eight-match home stand of the season which includes rematches with all four SoCal teams. The home stand begins Sunday, Oct. 9 against in-state rival University of Hawai'i Hilo. First serve is set for 3 p.m.
