HONOLULU – The No. 14 Chaminade University women's volleyball team on Thursday opened defense of their two-time Pacific West Conference championship with a convincing 25-15, 25-10, 25-16 win over Hawai'i Pacific University at the HPU Shark Tank.
Eight Silverswords had at least two kills – led by two-time PacWest Player of the Week
Ajack Malual's (Rome, Italy/Tambosi ETI) nine – to help the 'Swords improve to a school-record 12-0 mark and 1-0 in the conference.
Mahala Ka'apuni (Hilo, Hawai'i/Alaska Anchorage/Hilo HS) added seven kills while
Heavenly Campbell (Waialua, O'ahu, Hawai'i/College of Southern Idaho/Damien HS) had a season-high six. Also coming up with a season-high in kills was
Kendall Rios (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) who had four.
Chaminade, which has won 28 of its last 29 PacWest matches dating back to October 2021, held the Sharks (0-5, 0-1 PacWest) to a -.068 attack percentage (13 kills, 19 errors, 88 attempts). Marley Sandoval led HPU with four kills.
Leilani Ama (Spokane, Wash./Mt. Spokane) had 16 assists while reserve setters
Allexis Iramina (Honolulu/Moanalua) and
Grace Talpash (Temecula, Calif./University of Oklahoma/Great Oak HS) had five each. Also with five assists was libero
Hula Crisostomo (Honolulu/Univ. of Texas El Paso/Moanalua HS) who also had a match-high 15 digs.
Nanna Inoue (Kula, Maui, Hawai'i/Tyler JC/King Kekaulike HS) had three service aces as did Ama while
Lizanyela Lopez (Lima, Peru/Trinity Valley CC/Saco Oliveros HS) had five total blocks.
The 'Swords opened up an 11-3 first-set lead and never looked back in the convincing win.
However the Sharks showed a lot of determination in defending their home floor, rallying from down 6-1 and closing to within 10-9 with help from setter Kiana Swingle, who played for CUH in the spring and fall 2021 seasons, with an ace and a pair of assists.
But the Silverswords charged back in front of a pro-Chaminade crowd of 272, thanks to a set-ending 15-1 surge, including 10 straight points with Ama at the service line.
For the third time in as many sets, Chaminade roared out to leads of 6-1 and 13-5 although HPU drew to within 15-10. But Malual, Campbell and Rios all put down successful attacks to help them pull away and the sweep.
Chaminade hit .211 against the scrappy HPU squad which managed to come up with 31 digs. The 'Swords compiled 33 assists, 10 aces, 48 digs and eight total team blocks while the Sharks had 13 assists, three aces and six total team blocks.
The Silverswords will take the rest of the week off then open up a three-match home stand starting next Thursday against Point Loma. The Sea Lions were picked to finish second in the PacWest, according to the preseason coaches poll, and are the only squad to hand Chaminade a conference loss in the past 23 months.
First serve is set for 7 p.m.
