POMONA, Calif. – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team on Thursday opened the 2024 NCAA West Regional against a red-hot Stanislaus State squad who won the California Collegiate Athletic Association tournament and boasted a seven-match win streak entering the match.
However the experience-laden Silverswords proved too much as they dispatched the Warriors, 26-24, 27-25, 25-11, in the regional's opening round at Kellogg Arena on the Cal Poly Pomona campus.
First Team All-Pacific West Conference selection
Mahala Ka'apuni (Hilo, Hawai'i/Alaska Anchorage/Hilo HS) put down a match-high 12 kills and three service aces for the Silverswords while fellow All-PacWest and all-region outside hitter
Letizia Cammillucci (Padova, Italy/San Jose State/Liceo Amedeo di Savoia Duca D'asosta HS) added another nine kills with 12 digs for the 'Swords.
Chaminade, the Pacific West Conference champions, the regional's third seed and ranked No. 4 in the latest AVCA Division II Top 25 Poll, improved to 28-4 in advancing to the semifinals for the third straight season.
PacWest Newcomer of the Year, all-region pick and all-PacWest first team middle blocker
Anna Stucchi (Roncello, Italy/Santa Clara University/I.I.S. Ezio Vanoni HS), who hit a combined .568 in her previous five matches, continued her torrid attacking efficiency, putting down eight kills with no errors on 18 swings for a match percentage of .444.
PacWest Setter of the Year
Grace Talpash (Temecula, Calif./University of Oklahoma/Great Oak HS) had 32 assists, eight digs, five kills and three blocks while
Nanna Inoue (Kula, Maui, Hawai'i/Tyler JC/King Kekaulike HS) had 14 digs.
Lizanyela Lopez (Lima, Peru/Trinity Valley CC/Saco Oliveros HS) added seven kills and hit .538.
Sixth-seeded Stanislaus State, ranked 24th in the AVCA poll but playing in its first-ever NCAA postseason match, got eight kills from Ellison Weaver to end the most successful season in program history at 22-8.
The first set was a wild ride. The Silverswords could not gain any traction at the start as a 7-1 Warriors' run was a key stretch in Stan State taking a 21-13 lead. But the 'Swords mounted a furious rally as Cammillucci keyed a 6-0 run with a kill and two aces – the latter of which gave her 60 on the season to tie the 27-year-old single-season record held by Danielle Robins – to get them to within 21-19.
The Warrior got their lead to 24-22 and were serving for the set but a pair of Stucchi kills during a 4-0 run including the set-finisher completed the improbable comeback for the 'Swords to steal the opening set.
"We started off a little shaky but they found a way to win even though they were down," Chaminade's 13th-year head coach
Kahala Kabalis Hoke said. "The way they battled back is a championship mindset."
The momentum seemed to carry in the second set with CUH jumping out to a 16-12 lead. But like the 'Swords did in the opening frame, Stanislaus State rallied back and took several one-point leads late and, at 24-23, were serving for the frame. However, Chaminade again dug deep, outscoring Stan State, 4-1, ending with a double-block by Stucchi and Talpash.
There would be no drama in what proved to be the final set. Chaminade opened up an 11-5 advantage then went on a 9-1 surge to convincingly take the third set and the team's first sweep since Nov. 13.
Chamninade hit .307 in the match, putting down 46 kills with 38 aces, 55 digs, nine aces and four total team blocks. They also limited the Warriors, the CCAA's top blocking unit, to just three blocks.
Stanislaus State was held to a .165 attack percentage with 30 kills, 26 assists, 50 digs and two aces.
"We have to tell each other to calm down, give us time, play at our speed to continue these long rallies and point-for-point match," Ka'apuni said about the team's mentality in rallying late in Sets 1 and 2. "Emotional balance and controlling (it) was really important for the team."
The Silverswords will get No. 2-seeded and 21st-ranked San Francisco State on Friday at 5 p.m. Hawai'i time after the Gators eliminated Cal State Los Angeles, the two-time defending West Region champion, with the winner advancing into the West Regional championship match on Saturday. SFSU handed Chaminade its last loss back on Sept. 29 in San Francisco.
