HILO, Hawai`i—In a big match between island rivals, Chaminade had a secret weapon and they used it to success during a 25-20, 25-20, 23-25, 25-23 rugged win over host Hawai`i Hilo in front of 673 fans at Vulcan Gymnasium on Saturday night.
The Silverswords improved to 13-3 on the season and to 7-3 in the Pacific West Conference with the victory. The Vulcans saw its five-match win streak come to a close and they are now 11-4 on the year and 7-2 in the PacWest.
The Vulcans played without senior libero
Mina Grant, who was out with an injury. Even with Grant, the Vulcans would have game-planned to stop the top two outside hitters in the conference in Emma Tecklenburg and Alana Handy. Tecklenburg (11 kills) and Handy (16 kills) did their part, but it was sophomore Rachel Reedy who was the star of the match.
Reedy had a career-high 19 kills, hitting a sizzling .567 with just two errors. She had the go-ahead kill late in the fourth set (24-23) and Tecklenburg put down the final ball of the night to secure the win.
Evelin Solyomvari led UH Hilo with 15 kills, and
Bria Beale had eight.
Kaila Lizama, filling in for Grant, led the Vulcans with 17 digs and had three service aces.
"They had a great game plan tonight," said Vulcan head coach
Gene Krieger. "Still, we had our chances late in the match and made a nice comeback, but just couldn't push it to a fifth set."
In the beginning, it looked like the evening might be over in a hurry.
Chaminade won the first two sets, quieting the largest Vulcan crowd of the season. The Silverswords broke a 19-19 tie in the first set by scoring five of the final six points (25-20). Chaminade built a 22-11 lead in the second set, scoring eight straight points at one juncture, before the Vulcans rallied back with seven consecutive points of their own. After a Beale kill and ace, UH Hilo trailed by just three points, but the visitors scored the final two points of the set to win, 25-20.
The Silverswords led 18-12 in the third set, just a few more swings away from clinching the match in three. But the Vulcans roared back, behind Solyomvari's eight kills, and Lizama's serving. Lizama had two aces late in the set, Solyomvari had a kill and Beale finished off the comeback with a kill (25-23).
The fourth set went back and forth. The Vulcans led 17-14 after an
Ashton Jessee kill, and Chaminade crept back to 19-18 after a Handy put-away. Handy tied it at 20-20 and it again at 21-21. Solyomvari put UH Hilo up 23-22, but Chaminade would score the final three points of the night off kills from Brooke Bell, Reedy and Tecklenburg.
Handy had 14 digs to go with her 16 kills, while Claire Zanon led all players with 18 digs.
The Vulcans won't have any time to wallow in the loss and will have to get ready to take on fellow island rival Hawai`i Pacific tomorrow (Sunday) night. Start time is 7 p.m.
