The Chaminade women’s volleyball team had a surprisingly consistent performance, winning all 20 games in the Pac West Conference and qualifying for the NCAA Division II Tournament for the fourth straight year.
On Saturday night, the No. 7 Silverswords defeated Hawaii Hilo 25-20, 25-17, 21-25, 25-16 at Vulcan Gymnasium, becoming the eighth team to finish the PacWest volleyball season undefeated. It became. It was the first new ground for Chaminade (27-4 overall) in seven years.
The Hawaii school has recorded seven of the eight undefeated seasons in PacWest women’s volleyball history. BYU-Hawaii had four, and Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii-Hilo had one.
In 20 games, the Silverswords were twice defeated in five sets, against Hawaii Hilo and Fresno Pacific, both at home. They swept the team six times.
Led by coach Kahala Caballis Hoke, the Silverswords have a 73-7 record in the PacWest over the past four seasons, producing four of CUH’s seven total NCAA postseason appearances in that span. .
Chaminade junior and Hilo native Mahala Kaapuni’s family hosted the rest of the team for a dinner celebration after the team clinched the outright league championship, Kabaris Hawk told Spectrum News in a phone interview Sunday. told.
“It’s still sinking in. ‘Wow, it’s just amazing,'” she said. “My head is there right now. I’m incredibly proud of the team, but going into the season I didn’t expect this to happen. I expected some shortfalls, but I’m incredibly proud of how I persevered.” ) (PacWest’s) moments all season long, but fortunately they only came in sets, not the entire game. ”
She pointed out that leg fatigue on the road and the occasional ill-timed injury are an unfortunate reality of long conference seasons. But thanks to determination and luck, Silver Sword was largely unaffected by those factors this year.
“Additionally, we had nine seniors with great leadership,” Kabaris Hawk said. “Last year we didn’t have the passion we needed to get everyone really focused and goal-oriented.”
The NCAA Division II Selection Show will be held on NCAA.com on Mondays at 2:30 p.m. Stanislaus State University of the CCAA and Central Washington State of the GNAC are the other two automatic qualifiers in the Western Region. Five large teams will be revealed.
West Division games begin on December 5th. Chaminade will see if it can move up from No. 3 in the West Division rankings (top-ranked Pomona was upset in the CCAA tournament), but Caballis Hawk will see if his team can host. I had doubts. Chaminade did not make a bid, she said.
Chaminade has won 17 games in a row.
The big accomplishment late on was a four-set victory on November 15 against previously undefeated and 13th-ranked Point Loma Nazarene. PLNU won the PacWest 19-1.
“We stayed on high alert because Point Loma was doing well,” Cavallis Hawk said.
Chaminade won four sets on Senior Night against Hawaii Pacific, closing out the match with UHH. Silversword hitter Anna Stucchi hit .548 with 19 kills on Saturday, raising her season batting average to .441. This would be a Chaminade record if the season ended today.
Silver Sword assured me that was not the case. Kabaris Hawk said her team has been heavily scouted with available game tape and will focus on combining more offensive options from now until the NCAAs.
Hilo Vulcans finished in a four-way tie with 16 wins and 14 losses, placing them in 4th place in the PWC.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. Contact him at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.
