Silversword volleyball fans can breathe a sigh of relief.
After earning just one win in their last five five-set matches, the Lady Swords were victorious against Point Loma Nazarene University 25-12, 25-22, 17-25, 22-25, 15-10 at McCabe Gym on Oct. 17.
It was a much-needed win – over the reigning National Christian College Athletic Association’s national champions – for a Chaminade team that had suffered a handful of heartbreaking five-set losses so far this season. Since Sept. 26, four of the team’s five losses were five-set defeats.
“That fifth game, we were fearless,” said sophomore outside hitter Cassie Rushlow, who finished with 14 kills and two aces in the victory. “The hitters went up swinging, the servers came in with a tough serves. We trusted each other, and I think that’s what the big difference was.”
With the win against PLNU and a loss against California Baptist University on Oct. 18, the Lady Swords are now 11-11 overall (4-8 in the PacWest Conference). Point Loma falls to 12-8 and CBU, the No. 3 team in the league, improves to 12-7.
In the first set, Chaminade came out on a scoring spree jumping to a 9-3 lead while maintain the lead tricking the opposition with tips to open areas of the court, which were falling to the ground. The Swords went on to win the set 25-12.
The second set was a different type of tempo for the Swords in which they allowed PLNU to hang around the set not allowing the visitors to get to far ahead but finished them off 25-22.
Rushlow led the Swords in the first two sets, dominating PLNU with kills and not allowing NCCAA tournament MVP Alyssa Dwyer to get comfortable. The senior middle blocker, one of the best hitters in the conference, was limited to just 10 kills but had 5 hitting errors in the match.
“I try to perform to the best of my ability each and every game,” Rushlow said.
Point Loma won the third and fourth sets soundly. The Sea Lions got a big contribution from senior right side Delaney McCraney
The Swords in the fifth set hung around before putting away the Sea Lions with a 5-1 run to win the set 15-10. Junior Suncica Bakic and sophomore Madalene Barrett powered home the last five kills as Chaminade pulled away with the victory.
Chaminade senior libero Athena Maskerich had 18 digs on the night, keeping up with the Sea Lions’ top players in Dwyer and Heather Leavitt forcing them to go to McCraney who had 18 kills.
“We talked about the adjustments that we needed to make (in the fifth set),” Chaminde head coach Kahala Kabalis said. “The execution of the skills was much better tonight, and we were not making errors as we normally do and (PLNU) makes an error every now and then.”
The next match for the Lady Swords will be on Oct. 24 against Fresno Pacific.
“I think everyone’s fired up and confident and know that we can beat those good teams.” Kabalis said.