FRESNO, Calif. – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team on Saturday put an emphatic cap to their 2022 regular season with a 25-20, 25-20, 25-20 sweep of Fresno Pacific in a matchup of the Pacific West Conference's top two teams in the standings.
For the second straight match,
Ajack Malual (Trento, Italy/Tambosi ETI) led the Silverswords in the kills category, putting down 11 on the afternoon while
Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hill, Calif./Oakwood) added 10 kills, hit .529 and recorded five total blocks.
The Silverswords, who clinched the PacWest championship back on Nov. 9, ended the regular season at 24-7 overall and 19-1 in the conference. Their .950 PacWest winning percentage is the highest since the 2017 California Baptist squad that went 20-0. They also extended their winning streak against the conference's Bay Area and Central Valley squads to 38 dating back to the 2017 season.
Kaiessa Sounart put down 11 kills for Fresno Pacific, which ended its season at 16-9 and tied for second with Point Loma at 15-5. Chaminade's four-match separation from the second-place teams is also the widest margin from the PacWest champion to the runners-up since the aforementioned Cal Baptist team won the conference by five matches.
Brooklen Pe'a (Woods Cross, Utah/Youngstown State/Bountiful HS) added nine kills for the 'Swords while
Sasha Colombo (Milan, Italy/Colorado State/Liceo Scientifico Giordano Bruno HS) contributed with seven kills and four blocks.
Sophie Schilling (Berlin, Germany/Alaska/Schul- and Leistungsportszentrum Berlin HS) pushed back four FPU attacks while
Alexia Byrnes (Chicago/Youngstown State/Saint Francis HS) had 24 assists and three service aces.
Nanna Inoue (Kula, Maui, Hawai'i/Tyler JC/King Kekaulike HS) had a team-best 13 digs and
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/Univ. of San Francisco/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS) had 11 digs. Corti also had two aces which raised her season total to 52, the fourth-highest in school history.
Byrnes opened the match with all three of her aces coming in the first four points as the 'Swords pounced quickly to build a 21-14 lead. The Sunbirds managed to put together a string of four straight points before Schilling accounted for Chaminade's next three points (two kills, one block) as Malual ended the first set.
Hoping to finish their season on a high note, FPU grabbed a 20-19 Set 2 lead but Chaminade answered with six straight points, capped by an ace by
Kendall Rios (Tustin, Calif./Foothill).
Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel, the 'Swords rushed out to a 17-8 advantage in the third set although the Sunbirds were able to claw their way back to within 24-20. However, Chaminade forced FPU to hit wide on aloha ball, capping their memorable regular season.
Chaminade hit .299 in the match and held Fresno Pacific to .100. The 'Swords also had 44 assists, seven aces, 45 digs and 10 total team blocks to FPU's 30 kills, 20 assists, 41 digs and five blocks.
The two-time defending PacWest champions now await their West Region destination and opponent with the NCAA Selection Show which will be on NCAA.com at 5:30 p.m. Hawai'i time. The Silverswords will enter the postseason as one of the hottest teams in the west, having won 21 of their last 22 matches.
