HONOLULU – There are so many new faces for the Chaminade University women's tennis team, the players might have still worn their "Hello, my name is …" nametags when spring practices resumed three weeks ago.
There are five newcomers to the 2023 Silverswords, whose season gets underway on Monday against the University of Calgary. Doubles action begins at 3 p.m. with the site yet to be determined.
The cupboard isn't completely bare for
Ty Aki, who is entering his ninth year as head coach, with veterans
Sydney Danielson (Prior Lake, Minn./Prior Lake) and
Emily Ramirez Miranda (Honolulu/Kaiser) returning.
Danielson competed in 18 total matches in 2022, playing 10 in No. 4 singles and eight more in No. 2 doubles. Ramirez Miranda was sidelined for much of the 2022 season due to an injury in mid-February but played in four singles and two doubles matches before being shelved.
All five newcomers are freshmen who had productive high school careers.
Kirra Carvalho (Lihue, Kaua'i, Hawai'i/Kaua'i) was a four-time All-Kaua'i Interscholastic Federation performer at Kaua'i High School and qualified for the Hawai'i High School Athletic Association Singles Championships as a senior.
Like Carvalho,
Berylin Lau (Wailuku, Maui, Hawai'i/Kamehameha-Maui) exceled locally, having finished among the Maui Interscholastic League's top doubles tandem at Kamehameha-Maui School. As a senior last year, she and her partner qualified for the HHSAA Doubles Championships where they advanced to the second round. She is the younger sister of
Kayleen Lau, who competed for the team from 2020 to 2022.
Molly Cookman (Racine, Wis./Prairie) joins the Silverswords after having qualified for two Wisconsin state championships in both singles and doubles while earning all-league honors as Prairie High School.
Also a joining the team as a first-year member is
Danica Palmer (Philadelphia/Upper Merion Area) who is among the furthest travelers to join the team, hailing from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Selena Buttery (Brockway, Pa./Brockway) is the fifth newcomer to the tennis squad and, like Palmer, also hails from Pennsylvania. Buttery was a four-time most valuable player at Brockway High School and helped win a district doubles title. Buttery, who also plays on the Chaminade women's basketball team, will join the tennis squad upon completion of the hoops season in late February.
Like they traditionally do, the 'Swords will play a handful of matches against NCAA Division I foes who visit O'ahu. This year's D-I slate includes CSUN (formerly known as Cal State Northridge) on March 22, followed by a date against Portland State on 31.
For the first time since 2014, the 'Swords will travel to the mainland for regular season competition. In late March, they'll travel to Northern California to face William Jessup and Menlo as well as fellow Pacific West Conference members Dominican University of California and Holy Names.
They'll also face Big Island foe, University of Hawai'i Hilo, three times including on Thursday on O'ahu and twice in Hilo on April 1. The Silverswords end their regular season against in-city rival and perennial national power Hawai'i Pacific University on April 5.
