POMONA, Calif. – Earlier on Friday, the Chaminade University women's volleyball team survived a five-set thriller to San Francisco State at the Cal Poly Pomona/Azusa Pacific Crossover tournament.
In their second match of the day, the No. 20 Silverswords made sure extra sets weren't needed. However, it took a significant rally to avoid just that.
Chaminade staved off six set points – including five straight – in the third set to sweep past Northwest Nazarene, 25-13, 25-16, 27-25, at Kellogg Arena.
Ajack Malual (Rome, Italy/Tambosi ETI) put down a career-high 19 kills while hitting .621 as the 'Swords improved to 10-0 on the season, the best start in program history, besting the 2018 season where they won their first nine matches. The sophomore right-side hitter also had two blocks and three service aces.
Mahala Ka'apuni (Hilo, Hawai'i/Alaska Anchorage/Hilo HS) added nine kills while
Sophie Schilling (Berlin, Germany/Alaska/Schul- and Leistungsportszentrum Berlin HS) had eight and two blocks.
Londyn Giles led the Nighthawks (4-3) with seven kills.
Leilani Ama (Spokane, Wash./Mt. Spokane) had 40 assists while
Hula Crisostomo (Honolulu/Univ. of Texas El Paso/Moanalua HS) had 15 digs.
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/Univ. of San Francisco/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS) was held to five kills but had 13 digs.
Chaminade held Northwest Nazarene to a negative hitting percentage through the first two sets, holding their Great Northwest Athletic Conference opponent to just -.073 (nine kills, 13 errors, 55 attempts).
But in the third set, NNU got rolling, leading most of the frame and was poised to force a fourth set, holding a 24-19 edge. After CUH called its final timeout of the set, the 'Swords got kills from Schilling and Ama, followed by a Nighthawks hitting error, their first of the set, allowing Chaminade to close to 24-22. NNU would call both timeouts, sandwiched around a Malual kill which made it 24-23.
At NNU's fifth set point,
Kendall Rios (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) completed the rally with her second ace of the match, forcing a 24-all tie although a service error would put NNU up 25-24, forcing a sixth set point. However, Corti tied it at 25 with her final kill of the match then Ama went to Malual for the final two points to cap an improbable rally to finish the match.
Chaminade posted 49 kills, 46 assists, nine aces, 45 digs and four total team blocks to Northwest Nazarene's 23 kills, 20 assists, two aces, 39 digs and three blocks. The 'Swords also hit .300 while NNU hit .099.
The Silverswords will wrap up the Crossover on Saturday when they face Cal State East Bay (3-2) as their portion of the tournament moves to Azusa Pacific's Felix Event Center. First set is set for 8 a.m. Hawai'i time.
