HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women's volleyball team opened Pacific West Conference action Thursday with a 25-15, 25-15, 25-17 win over Hawai'i Pacific University at The Shark Tank.
 
Lillie Hinton (Spicewood, Texas/Lake Travis), the reigning PacWest Player of the Week, and Malena Mihalik (Santa Fe, Argentina/San Eugenio) each put down a match-high nine kills as the Silverswords won their fifth straight to improve to 7-4 and 1-0 in the PacWest. Chaminade has won five straight conference openers and its eighth in the past nine seasons.
 
Allison Panter (Denver, Colo./Portland State University/Denver School of Science and Technology HS) added another eight kills with Tabby Allen (Leander, Texas/Rouse) contributed with another six kills and four blocks.
 
Lilinoe Paschoal (Paukukalo, Maui, Hawai'i/Baldwin) dished out 30 assists and served four service aces and Kyra Pagud (Honolulu/Moanalua) had 13 digs.
 
Sophia Cooper and Chayse Hoon both had seven kills for HPU (1-6, 0-1 PacWest) in the 123rd all-time meeting between the two programs.
 
The win helped soothe the aches from a stunning upset loss 11 months earlier when the Sharks beat the 'Swords in five sets at The Tank which, at the time, ended CUH's 11-match win streak in the series. Thursday's win was also their 15th in the last 17 meetings against their in-city rivals.
 
The 'Swords used an 11-2 run to turn a one-point lead into a 10-point first-set victory. Mihalik accounted for two of their seven kills while forcing three HPU hitting errors during the run.
 
CUH used a similar surge in the second set, turning a 9-8 lead into a 21-11 edge thanks to a pair of kills from Hinton and Panter.
 
The third set was a near-carbon copy of the first two sets where Chaminade held a slight edge midway through the frame before pulling away. The 'Swords held a 14-12 advantage before Hinton, Reina Krueger (Fort Collins, Colo./Liberty Commons) and Panter put down consecutive kills which keyed the decisive 9-3 run to help ensure the sweep.
 
Chaminade hit a season-high .312 in the match while holding HPU to a .109 percentage. The 'Swords put down 45 kills on 40 assists, 43 digs, six aces and six total team blocks.
 
The Sharks had 27 kills, 25 assists, 40 digs, one ace and five blocks.
 
The Silverswords will face their other PacWest in-state rival University of Hawaii Hilo on Saturday on the Big Island.