HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University opened the Covid moved 2021 season with a thrilling come-from-behind five-set victory over cross-town rival Chaminade 3-2 in the first PacWest Conference Hawai'i volleyball match on Saturday morning at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (1-0, 1-0) defeated the Silverswords 25-20, 18-25, 21-25, 25-23, 15-13 to claim the season opener for both teams. The match was also the first in this weekend's PacWest Hawai'i Tournament No. 1 that features a double-round robin between the Aloha state teams.
 
The Sharks overcame a 2-1 deficit in games to hold on in the fourth set against the Swords, then used a 7-2 run in the deciding set to overcome an 11-8 hole to win the match.
 
The Sharks hit just .143 for the match with 9.0 team blocks, while the Swords hit .151 with 11.0 team blocks.
 
HPU was paced by the play of senior Cameryn Collie of El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge, who double-doubled with 28 kills and19 digs with two blocks. Junior Nicole Ferris of Woodstock, Ga./Etowah posted nine kills, while junior Kirah Boynton-Brown of Vancouver, Wash./Union tallied five blocks as did freshman Sunny Brown of Draper, Utah/Alta.
 
CUH was paced by Brooklen Pe'a with a double-double of 23 kills and 11 digs. Rachel Reedy added 10 kills with five blocks, while Lataisia Saulala led the match with six blocks.
 
The Sharks had their work cut out for them in the deciding fifth set, after taking an 8-7 lead the Swords went on a 4-0 run to grab a powerful 11-8 advantage.
 
HPU took advantage of an attack error by CUH to end then got a pair of Collie kills wrapped around a kill from Pe'a to sit within a point at 11-12. Collie and Brown combined on a block to tie the set at 12-all, but a service error gave the Swords a 13-12 lead.
 
After an HPU timeout, the Sharks got the set tied at 13-all on an attack error. With Collie serving, the teams volleyed with HPU scoring on a block from Brown and junior newcomer Demi Winters of Gresham, Ore./Barlow. On the final point, Chaminade's Reedy hit into the block of Brown and junior Lauren Christie of Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon to give HPU the win 15-13 and the match 3-2.
 
The Sharks face Hawai'i Hilo on Saturday evening at 7 p.m., then host UH Hilo again on Sunday at 1 p.m. and Chaminade on Sunday at 7 p.m. to wrap up the weekend at The Shark Tank.