HILO, Hawai'i – Despite securing their third Pacific West Conference championship in four years as well as the conference's automatic berth to the NCAA Division II Tournament on Thursday, the Chaminade University women's volleyball team still had one more piece of unfinished business.
On Saturday, the Silverswords defeated the University of Hawai'i Hilo, 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-16, at Vulcans Gymnasium to capture the outright PacWest title and a complete sweep of 2024 PacWest foes with an unblemished 20-0 mark.
The 'Swords, who finished the regular season at 27-4, became the first team since California Baptist in 2017 to go through an entire PacWest slate undefeated and just the eighth occurrence in conference history. Chaminade joined BYU-Hawai'i (1998, '99, '06, '12), Hawai'i Pacific (2000), UH Hilo (2007) and CBU on the exclusive list.
The 'Swords, ranked seventh in the AVCA Top 25 Poll, extended their record win streak to 17 straight while they have won 26 straight PacWest contests dating back to October of 2023. They also captured volleyball's first-place points in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
Anna Stucchi (Roncello, Italy/Santa Clara University/I.I.S. Ezio Vanoni HS), who entered the match as the fourth-most efficient attacker in Division II, put down a match-high 19 kills and hit .548, raising her hitting percentage to .441, which is on pace to set the Chaminade single-season record.
Lizanyela Lopez (Lima, Peru/Trinity Valley CC/Saco Oliveros HS) added 13 more kills with five total blocks while
Letizia Cammillucci (Padova, Italy/San Jose State/Liceo Amedeo di Savoia Duca D'asosta HS) collected her eighth double-double with 12 kills and 12 digs.
Grace Talpash (Temecula, Calif./University of Oklahoma/Great Oak HS) had 51 assists, her second 50-plus total this season, and eight digs while
Nanna Inoue (Kula, Maui, Hawai'i/Tyler JC/King Kekaulike HS) came up with 12 digs.
Samara Cruz had 13 kills for the Vulcans, who finished the season 16-14 and in a four-way tie for fourth place in the PacWest.
Chaminade rallied from an early 13-9 deficit in the opening set in front of the usually spirited Hilo faithful on their senior night. The 'Swords responded on an 11-2 run to open up a 20-15 lead to help them take the first set.
The Silverswords bolted out to a 7-1 edge in the second set and eventually built their lead to as many as 20-8 to go up two-sets-to-none.
However, Chaminade, which had just eight hitting errors in the first two sets, committed 10 in the third set to allow UH Hilo to capture the frame.
The teams sided out each of their first five points of the fourth before Hilo native
Mahala Ka'apuni (Hilo, Hawai'i/Alaska Anchorage/Hilo HS) got the set's first natural point to put the 'Swords up 7-5. Lopez and Ka'apuni recorded points on a kill and block to put Chaminade up by four, followed by a 5-1 run, giving them a 17-11 edge. Fittingly, it was Ka'apuni who ended the match as the hometown gal put down her seventh kill to help the 'Swords with conference perfection.
Chaminade put down 62 kills and hit .297 on the night with 57 assists, 53 digs, seven aces and six total team blocks. UH Hilo was held to 39 kills and a .171 hitting percentage.
Up next for the Silverswords is the NCAA Tournament, where they will be making their seventh all-time appearance in the Division II dance, their fourth straight year of being in the postseason.
They will learn their West Region destination and opening round opponent on Monday's NCAA Selection Show. Along with Chaminade, the west's other automatic qualifiers are Stanislaus State from the California Collegiate Athletic Association (CCAA) and Central Washington from the Great Northwest Athletic Conference (GNAC). The selection show, which will also unveil the five at-large selections, will be on NCAA.com at 2:30 p.m. Hawai'i time.
