HONOLULU – After rolling through four wins in their season opening tournament in Fairbanks, Alaska, the Chaminade University women's volleyball team made their McCabe Gymnasium debut Friday with a 21-25, 25-18, 25-20, 25-18 win over Simon Fraser at the Hawai'i Challenge.
In a mirror image of their season opener in Fairbanks, the Silverswords trudged through their home opener before taking over in the final three sets.
Ajack Malual (Rome, Italy/Tambosi ETI) paced the 'Swords with 12 kills and three blocks while
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/Univ. of San Francisco/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS) added 10 kills and 11 digs to help Chaminade improve to 5-0 on the season.
Mahala Ka'apuni (Hilo, Hawai'i/Alaska Anchorage/Hilo HS) contributed with nine kills as did
Lizanyela Lopez (Lima, Peru/Trinity Valley CC/Saco Oliveros HS).
Sophie Schilling (Berlin, Germany/Univ. of Alaska/Schul- and Leistungssportzentrum HS) added five kills and four blocks.
Setter
Leilani Ama (Spokane, Wash./Mt. Spokane) had 30 assists and 12 digs and libero
Hula Crisostomo (Honolulu/Univ. of Texas El Paso/Moanalua HS) led the match with 20 digs.
Sophie Lachapelle led the Red Leafs (1-1) with 12 kills.
The Silverswords got off to a rather inauspicious start, letting an early 7-2 lead in the first set dissipate, resulting in SFU rallying back midway through and taking the first, resembling their first-set loss at Alaska in their season opener.
And similar to that match, Chaminade righted the ship, using a 5-0 run for a 17-11 lead in Set 2. Another 5-0 rally which ended the set forced the match to square at 1.
Trailing 17-15 in the pivotal third set, an SFU attack error, followed by an ace from Ama and kills from Schilling and Corti put Chaminade ahead, 19-17. The 'Swords scored five of the set's final six points to take the match lead.
The Red Leafs would not go away quietly, however, staying within two points of the Silverswords until a decisive 6-1 run, keyed by kills from Corti, Malual, Schilling and Ka'apuni helped ensure their home debut victory.
Chaminade put down 48 kills to Simon Fraser's 37, out-assisted them, 42-to-35, out-dug them, 64-to-56 and out-blocked them 6-to-5.
However, the teams combined for 32 service errors with SFU committing 17 of them.
The Silverswords will have their second match of the day at 4 p.m. against Sonoma State as the Hawai'i Challenge continues. Hawai'i Hilo takes on No. 23 Cal Poly Pomona in the final match of the day at 6:30 p.m.
