HONOLULU – Chaminade University women's volleyball head coach
Kahala Kabalis Hoke on Monday announced the 2025 schedule, which includes a rigorous non-conference slate, 18 matches against Pacific West Conference foes and the debut of the PacWest Championships at McCabe Gymnasium in mid-November.
The Silverswords open their season on Thursday, Aug. 28 in the annual Hawai'i/Alaska Challenge in the 49th State against the University of Alaska and host University of Alaska Anchorage.
The team returns to O'ahu and hosts a pair of tournaments at McCabe Gym; the Hawai'i Challenge from Sept. 4-6 and the Aloha State Showdown from Sept. 11-13. Both tournaments will be played at both McCabe and Hawai'i Pacific University's Shark Tank.
The Hawai'i Challenge features 2023 NCAA Division II national champion Cal State Los Angeles which also serves as the 'Swords' home opener at noon on Sept. 4 then later that evening against Cal Poly Humboldt. They will also face Cal State East Bay and St. Mary's of Texas on Saturday.
The 'Swords open the Aloha State Showdown on Sept. 11 against traditional west coast power Western Washington. On Sept. 12, they meet Central Washington, an NCAA Tournament regular, then close out the tournament on Sept. 13 against Florida Tech and UC Merced.
Because of the unbalanced conference schedule, teams who have home-and-home meetings will have just one of those matches count towards the conference standings with rematches deemed as non-conference.
The 'Swords' first match against another PacWest foe is Thursday, Sept. 18 against Dominican University of California, which has been designated non-conference. Their first match that counts towards the PacWest standings is Saturday, Sept. 20 against Jessup University.
Chaminade's next five matches are on the road, four in southern California, starting Sept. 24 at Westmont and ending Oct. 4 at the University of Hawai'i Hilo.
The Silverswords' next seven matches are on O'ahu beginning Oct. 10 against Biola, non-conference matches against Vanguard (Oct. 11) and UH Hilo (Oct. 18), then PacWest-counting matches versus Westmont (Oct. 23), Point Loma (Oct. 25) and HPU (Oct. 28). The home stand sandwiches an Oct. 15 non-conference meeting at HPU.
The 'Swords are in northern California for matches at Dominican (Nov. 3), Menlo (non-conference, Nov. 5) and Fresno Pacific (Nov. 7). Chaminade closes out the regular season with Aloha Senior Night on Friday, Nov. 14 against Menlo.
With the new PacWest provision that champions have the right to host the conference tournament the following season, Chaminade will host the inaugural PacWest Volleyball Championships at McCabe Gym this season with the top four teams qualifying. The two semifinals will be on Thursday, Nov. 20 and the title match on Nov. 21 with the winner earning the PacWest's automatic bid to the NCAA West Regional.
The Silverswords were 28-5 last season and became the first team in seven years to complete a conference slate undefeated with a 20-0 mark, winning their third PacWest title in the past four seasons.
