SAN BERNARDINO, Calif. – A magical and record-setting season came to an end Friday as the Chaminade University women's volleyball team dropped a 25-23, 25-18, 25-19 decision to No. 4-seed Cal State Los Angeles at the NCAA Division II West Regional at Coussoulis Arena.
The Silverswords, who were the West's No. 1 seed, got a team-high eight kills from
Sophie Schilling (Berlin, Germany/Alaska/Schul- and Leistungsportszentrum Berlin HS) in her final collegiate match while
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/Univ. of San Francisco/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS), also playing her final match, put down seven.
The Silverswords, who were hoping to avenge their loss to the Golden Eagles in last year's West Region final, ended their season at 30-4, the most wins in program history. Cal State LA improved to 20-10 to advance to the West Region final for the third straight year. It was the first time Chaminade was swept this season, the last such instance coming against CSULA in last year's final. It was also the 'Swords' fourth straight loss to them in the head-to-head series.
Emily Elliott, the AVCA and D2CCA West Region Player of the Year, put down 12 kills while the rest of the Golden Eagles served up nine service aces, a combined seven from Jameson Sanders and Iane Henke.
Lizanyela Lopez (Lima, Peru/Trinity Valley CC/Saco Oliveros HS) chipped in with six kills for Chaminade. Schilling led the 'Swords with four blocks while Malual had three but had just four kills and hit negative-.235.
Leilani Ama (Spokane, Wash./Mt. Spokane) had 23 assists while
Hula Crisostomo (Honolulu/Univ. of Texas El Paso/Moanalua HS) wrapped up her lone season in a CUH uniform with 11 digs, finishing just 10 shy of 600 on the year.
Despite CSULA getting just one total team block, it was 24 Chaminade attack errors and a season-low .078 hitting percentage that spelled doom for the Silverswords, who had earned the region's top seed for the first time ever.
"I think it came down to our first touch and then it limited our offensive options," head coach
Kahala Kabalis Hoke said. "Once we got to that place, it was easier for Cal State LA defensively to put up a double block or understand where we're coming from. Then our hitters (began thinking) now that they know what's going on, we have to do something a bit extra and that bit extra turned into missing the court."
Chaminade raced out to a 13-8 lead in the opening set, forcing seven Golden Eagle attack errors including three from Elliott before she could even record her first kill, which came at 14-10. That set off a run of five straight CSULA points, which tied the set at 15 before an ace from
Kendall Rios (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) put the 'Swords up 19-17. The Golden Eagles would rally to retake the lead before Chaminade itself rallied to tie the set at 20, 22 and 23. But Elliott, who finally seemed to catch her footing, put down her third kill to set up set-point where the CCAA runners-up won on an ace.
The 'Swords again jumped out to leads of 3-0, 9-6 and 11-8 before CSULA began to methodically get back into the set, getting a pair of natural points to knot the score at 16. Then the Golden Eagles used a set-ending 9-2 run to put the top seed in the unenvious position of being down two sets.
In the third, Cal State LA opened up a 17-10 edge while Chaminade would try to stave off elimination with kills from Ama, Corti and Malual towards the end but it wasn't enough.
Chaminade could not catch a break in finding the floor in the second and third sets, hitting a combined .057 with 22 kills, 18 errors on 70 attacks. The Silverswords recorded three team blocks early in the first set which helped them build their initial lead but had just three more the rest of the match.
The Silverswords had 24 assists, five aces and 39 digs, both below their season totals entering the match. Cal State LA had 25 assists and 34 digs.
"(We're letting) other programs know that Chaminade belongs here, we've earned our way to make a name for ourselves and we want to continue to be successful, "Kabalis Hoke said of the team's success over the last five years. "At first, we did call it a rise. I'd like to say we've proven to people that we're a program to be looked at and we want to continue that. I'm very proud of the young ladies that's been in our program."
