HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University dropped its final home match of the season as cross-town rival Chaminade downed HPU 3-1 in PacWest Conference action on Friday night at James C. Castle Gym in St. Andrew's Priory.
 
The Sharks (7-20, 5-14) took the first set 25-22, but fell to the Silverswords (16-11, 11-8) in the last three sets 16-25, 12-25, 23-25 as HPU lost its 10th straight match.
 
"We played at both ends of the spectrum tonight," said head coach Jenic Tumaneng. "We can play very well, but just haven't been able to sustain it. We've got one more match left to see if we can play well the entire way."
 
HPU hit .144 for the match with 10.0 team blocks, the third highest this season. Chaminade hit .234 with 8.0 team blocks.
 
Freshman Cameryn Collie of El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge and sophomore Perla Escobar of Calexico, Calif./Calexico, led the Sharks as both recorded nine kills with Escobar leading the Sharks with 15 digs. Junior Kayla Demari of Dana Point, Calif./JSerra Catholic added six kills with four blocks. Senior Alyson Brunner of Willows, Calif./Willow also had four blocks on senior night.
 
Chaminade's Emma Tecklenburg notched a 20 kill night to lead the Swords, and just missed a double-double with nine digs. Brooke Bell and Kira Long each posted nine kills with Terezie Cernosek adding eight kills with a .667 hitting percentage and four blocks.
 
The Sharks jumped out strong against the Swords with a 7-2 run behind the serving of senior Sierra Dawson of Marin County, Calif./Redwood. HPU increased the lead to 13-5 on another 5-0 run that featured a service ace by senior Kayla Kilaulani of Wahiawa, Hawai'i/Leilehua and an assisted block by Brunner and senior Lea Felton of Sacramento, Calif./St. Francis. HPU pushed the lead to 17-9 on a kill by junior Kayla Demari of Dana Point, Calif./JSerra Catholic before the Swords made a comeback.
 
CUH went on a 4-0 run, then chipped away at the HPU lead until it was one at 23-22 following an HPU setting error. That's when Escobar got one kill and Collie ended the set with another to make it 25-22.
 
But the celebration quickly turned from there. The Silverswords opened a 12-7 lead and after an HPU kill be Demari, CUH went on a 5-0 run to claim a nine-point lead. Chaminade made it 11 at 24-13 after a Tecklenburg kill, when HPU got a 3-0 run. But it was too little as another Long kill gave the Swords a 25-16 win.
                                                                                                                        
The third set found the Swords open on an 8-1 run, and the Sharks never in it. Chaminade used a pair of 4-0 runs late as they crushed HPU 25-12.
 
With a 6-0 run to start, the fourth set appeared to be a repeat of the third. In fact, the Swords built a 16-7 lead with a 7-1 run and swapped points with HPU to lead 18-9 when the Sharks showed some life.
 
HPU posted a 4-0 run to get back to 18-13 and then allowed two CUH points to trail 20-13. A Sword service error returned the serve to HPU and the Sharks took advantage of it. As Escobar served, HPU got four blocks in five plays, two each bookending an Escobar service ace, and when an assisted bock from Demari and junior Chandler Lippincott of Phoenix, Ariz./Desert View, the Sharks were down one at 20-19.
 
CUH posted a 3-0 run to go up 23-19, but the Sharks answered by taking four of the next five points to pull within one again at 24-23 after a Collie kill. But Chaminade followed with a Bell kill that was a crushing blow as the Swords won the final set 25-23 and the match 3-1.
 
The Sharks have only one match left in the season and will play it on Saturday as they visit the Big Island to face Hawai'i Hilo at 7 p.m. in volleyball's final PacWest Hawai'i Challenge event of the season.