HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team faced off against their first Pacific West Conference foe on Thursday against Dominican University of California on, albeit the circumstances of the meeting were unusual.
Due to the unbalanced nature of the PacWest schedule where only one match in a home-and-home series would count in the conference standings, the 26th all-time meeting between the two was designated as a non-conference match for the first time in the series.
However, the outcome was the same as 22 previous meetings.
The Silverswords shook off a first-set slumber before dropping the Penguins in four, 22-25, 25-18, 25-23, 25-16 at McCabe Gymnasium, recording their 13th straight win in the series. The rematch between the two teams will be on Nov. 3 in San Rafael, California, and will count in the PacWest standings.
Alizaysha Sopi (Waianae, O'ahu, Hawai'i/Tennessee State University/Kapolei HS), who also goes by "Toodie," put down a career-high 13 kills and hit .400 on the evening while
Reina Krueger (Fort Collins, Colo./Liberty Commons) also eclipsed her career best with another 12 to help the 'Swords improve to 5-7 on the season.
Audrah Johnson (Nampa, Idaho/Utah State University/Nampa HS) added 10 kills.
The attackers weren't the only ones with career nights. Freshman setter
Lilinoe Paschoal (Wailuku, Maui, Hawai'i/Baldwin) dished out a season-best 30 assists while reserve setter
Allexis Iramina (Honolulu/Moanalua) set her own career high with 23, bettering her previous high of 14 set last Friday against Central Washington.
Sina Bauer (Bamberg, Bavaria, Germany/Maximillian-von-Montgelas Gymnasium Vilsbiburg) and
Malena Mihalik (Santa Fe, Argentina/San Eugenio) had 17 and 10 digs, respectively, while
Tabby Allen (Leander, Texas/Rouse), in addition to her seven kills, blocked five Dominican attacks. Mihalik also had three service aces.
Alexis Schwartz led the Penguins (1-8) with 12 kills.
Dominican used a pair of 4-0 runs in the opening set to build as many as a 21-16 lead. The 'Swords were not able to catch up as they dropped the opener, their first lost set to the Penguins since October 2018, snapping a streak of 28 consecutive sets won.
Tied at 17 in the second set, freshman right-side hitter
Beele Wieczorek (Wiesbaden, Germany/Elly-Heuss School), making her collegiate debut in the frame, put down her second career kill, putting CUH up ahead for good. Paschoal made four straight trips to the service line including an ace at set point.
The Penguins managed to hold the lead for a majority of the crucial third set before a Sopi kill put Chaminade ahead, 19-18. Tied at 20, Allen hammered down an attack, giving the 'Swords the lead followed on the next serve with a Mihalik ace and a 22-20 edge. DUC managed to deadlock the set at 23-all but Krueger and Sopi put down back-to-back kills to give CUH the 2-1 lead.
Chaminade was able to keep an arm's length away from Dominican on the scoreboard before ending the match on a 5-0 run, including Wieczorek's seventh kill at aloha ball.
After hitting just .194 in the first set, the Silverswords hit .315 in the final two sets for a .264 match attack percentage while holding the Penguins to .167. They amassed 61 kills, 59 assists, 60 digs, eight aces and six total team blocks while Dominican had 37 kills, 36 assists, 44 digs, three aces and five blocks.
The Silverswords face second-year PacWest member Jessup University on Saturday at 3 p.m. at McCabe Gym in what will be their first conference match of the season.
