HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University made a statement Wednesday night as the Sharks knocked cross-town rival Chaminade out of the PacWest Conference lead with a straight sets sweep at The Shark Tank.
The Sharks (17-7, 13-3) swept the Silverswords (19-5, 13-3) 25-20, 25-21, 25-23 to split the season series and put HPU, Chaminade and Hawai'i Hilo in a three-way tie for second place in the conference, a game behind Azusa Pacific at 13-2 in first place.
The Sharks totally dominated the match, trailing only twice in the three sets.
HPU hit .239 in the contest and recorded a season-high 12 team blocks in just three sets. Chaminade hit just .109 with four team blocks.
Senior
Perla Escobar of Calexico, Calif./Calexico continued her torrid play in leading the Sharks with 15 kills, but just missed a double-double with eight digs. She also notched a block while hitting .225.
Junior
Cameryn Collie of El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge just missed a double-double with nine kills to go with 11 digs and a block. Sophomore
Nicole Ferris of Woodstock, Ga./Etowah added six kills with three blocks.
The Sharks were paced at the net by sophomore
Kirah Boynton-Brown of Vancouver, Wash./Union and junior
Sierra Piester of Carlsbad, Calif./Tri-City Christian who each recorded five blocks.
The Swords were led by Rachel Reedy with 10 kills along with two blocks, while Annah Rivera posted nine kills with a .304 hitting percentage. Jacqueline Wolfe tallied three blocks.
HPU fell behind CUH 8-3 to open the contest. The Sharks quickly reversed their fortunes with an 8-2 run of their own that tied the set at 10-10. The teams traded points to a 15-15 tie when Ferris notched back-to-back kills to start a 5-0 run to put the Sharks up 20-15. HPU built the lead to 23-17 on a Collie kill before having to work through a 3-1 run that pulled CUH to within four at 24-20. HPU took the first set on a Boynton-Brown solo block of an Emma Tecklenburg attack to win 25-20.
The Sharks never trailed in winning the second set. HPU jumped out to an 8-2 run, and toyed with the Swords in building a 12-6 advantage. The first Chaminade run closed the gap to three before HPU made it 15-10. At 16-11, the Swords went on a 5-0 run to knot the set at 16-all on a Tecklenberg kill. But a block from sophomore
Lauren Christie of Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon and a dump kill from junior setter
Casey Davenport of Auburn, Wash./Mountainview gave HPU an 18-16 lead and 5-1 run put the Sharks in the drivers' seat. The Sharks ended the set 25-21 on a double-block by Boynton-Brown and junior
Abigail Wilmington of Vancouver, Wash./Columbia River to take the two set lead.
The tightest set of the match was the third, where there were five ties and two lead changes. The Sharks got the first lead, but allowed the Swords to get a two-point lead at 6-4 on a Tecklenberg kill. A Sword hitting error gave the Sharks exactly what they needed, a 5-0 run to retake the lead on a Collie kill and build a 9-6 advantage. CUH came back to tie with a mini run as Reedy made it 9-all on a kill.
HPU responded with a 5-0 run starting with an Escobar kill and eventually pushing the lead to 22-16. That's when Chaminade made a final push, going on a 5-0 run to make the score 22-21 after a kill by Rivera. Collie came through with a kill and Piester added a solo block to give HPU match point at 24-21. Again Rivera added a kill, along with a Shark hitting error to pull CUH within one at 24-23.
The senior Escobar made her final swing the big one, pounding down the final kill for the 25-23 win and lead the Sharks to their first win against the Silverswords in six tries and their first three-set sweep of Chaminade since Sept. 21, 2013. The win also gave HPU the volleyball first place points in the PacWest Hawai'i Challenge.
HPU closed a nine-match homestand with the win and now prepares for a crucial four-match southern California road swing. The first match is Veterans' Day, Monday, Nov. 11 when the Sharks visit Golden Gym in San Diego to meet Point Loma. First serve is slated for 5 p.m. HST (7 p.m. PST).
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