HILO, Hawai`i--Visiting Chaminade took no chances in winning their first Pacific West Conference title since 1996, taking down host Hawai`i Hilo in three sets in front of 688 fans at Vulcan Gymnasium on Friday night.
The Silversword won a battle royale in the first set (25-23) and then rolled to wins in sets two and three, 25-12, 25-17. The victory was Chaminade's eighth straight and they improved to 27-5 on the season and 17-3 in the PacWest. They also gained revenge for a loss suffered at the hands of the Vulcans earlier this season.
It was the final regular season match for the 'Swords, who will finish at least a match ahead of second place Biola. UH Hilo, who will wrap up the 2021 campaign on Saturday against Hawaii Pacific. is now 16-7 on the year and 13-6 in conference play.
The night began as everyone expected--with a tight battle between two of the top teams in the conference.
There were 12 ties in the first set and nine lead changes. With the scored knotted at 14-14, the Silverswords scored three straight points to move ahead. UHH battled back, tying the match at 22-22 and 23-23, but the 'Swords scored the next two points to secure the set.
Everyone in the gym expected more of the same in the next two sets, but the rest of the night belonged to Chaminade. In the second set, the 'Swords jumped out to a 6-1 lead and never trailed. They would hit .351 in the set and cruise to the 25-12 win. In the third set, CUH again fired out of the blocks, leading 7-2 and again never trailed in rolling to a 25-17 victory and followed that with a celebration.
Chaminade was balanced, led by Annah Rivera's 12 kills. They had five players with double figure dig numbers, and they hit .254 on the night.,
UH Hilo didn't have a player in double figure kill numbers for the first time this season.
Bria Beale had eight and
Samara Cruz had seven. Beale also had 13 digs,
Kendall Kott had 12 and
Madelyn Blandford had 10 digs.
UH Hilo will celebrate Senior Night on Saturday at 7 pm, and will honor Beale,
Ashton Jessee,
Amber Tai,
Kamilla Marinas and
Alexandria Parisian after the match.
Chaminade will now await Monday's NCAA Selection Show to learn their seed in the NCAA West Region tournament, likely to be hosted by Cal State Bernardino the week after Thanksgiving.
