HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team opens the regular season Thursday at the Hawai'i-Alaska Challenge at the Afook-Chinen Civic Auditorium in Hilo.
The Silverswords, along with host University of Hawai'i Hilo and Hawai'i Pacific University, will match up against Alaska programs University of Alaska Anchorage and the University of Alaska during the weekend.
Chaminade faces Anchorage in the NCAA's first countable match of 2026 at 1 p.m. then 16th-ranked Fairbanks on Friday at noon. Depending on the outcome of their first two matches, either they or HPU will play on Saturday against the Seawolves or Nanooks (whomever has the better record).
The 'Swords are coming off a 16-13 season – disappointing by their standards – although their 9-3 mark in the Pacific West Conference was good enough for them to qualify for the conference's first postseason tournament in 25 years.
Kahala Kabalis Hoke, in her 15th season as head coach, returns 12 veterans from last year's squad including All-PacWest performers
Tabby Allen and
Reina Krueger, and last season's PacWest Co-Freshman of the Year
Lillie Hinton.
Also back are returning starters
Lilinoe Paschoal at setter and
Sina Bauer at libero while key returnees include outside hitters
Leilani Ama,
Mykelle Brainard,
Malena Mihalik and
Maylynn Mitchell, middle blockers
Beele Wieczorek and
Anna Karasinska, and defensive specialist
Kyra Pagud. Ama, who was primarily a setter her first three seasons, moves to an attacking position in her final year, leaving Paschoal and transfers
Allison Panter and
Shannon Sheehy as the floor quarterbacks. Panter and Sheehy both arrived as mid-season transfers last spring and got some work for the beach team and their limited court time with the indoor team during spring scrimmages.
The two new setters aren't the only newcomers. Middle blocker
Anicka Panchartek transferred from Division I Southeastern Louisiana while outside hitter
Siria Guerini is a non-traditional transfer, coming in from Universita Telematica Pegaso in Italy instead of an American institution but has years of international experience in Europe.
The two new freshmen are both defensive specialists in
Cheyenne Canche and
Hailee Tamayo.
The 'Swords got a glimpse into the season in Monday's exhibition at the University of Hawai'i. Chaminade showed a lot of poise their Division I counterparts, especially on the defensive end with 40 digs, led by Pagud's match-high 15 while Canche added eight more. Paschoal had 12 assists, a kill and a block in playing all six rotations and Panter saw some rotations as a front-row attacker. Allen put down a team-best six kills while also serving three aces and a block.
Following this weekend's tournament, the 'Swords make their first mainland trip to the Central Washington Invitational, then make their home debut on Thursday, Sept. 3 in the Hawai'i Challenge tournament at McCabe Gymnasium.
Chaminade faces a challenging start to PacWest action with their first six conference matches on the road including their first two at island rivals HPU (Sept. 10) and UH Hilo (Sept. 12) then their Southern California trip which opens on Sept. 17 at defending PacWest champion and preseason No. 4-ranked Point Loma.
However, the conference slate is home-heavy on the backend with nine of their last 12 at McCabe Gym. The conference championship tournament to determine the PacWest's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is hosted by Vanguard University in mid-November.
