Chaminade women’s volleyball season concluded with Thursday night’s 3-1 (25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-12) loss to No. 2 seed Fresno Pacific in McCabe Gym.
This match was the second semifinal of the night, following No. 1 Point Loma’s 3-1(21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23) win over No. 4 UH-Hilo. These matches were part of the first PacWest Volleyball Championships in 25 years.
“I truly believe from the bottom of my heart that we could have won this season with what we had, and even the inexperience that we had,” said Chaminade head coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke, who is in her 14th year. “Those matches we lost in preseason, we’re losing in five by two points to some of the best teams in the nation. We show that we can battle, but again it comes down to inconsistencies.”
After a first set blowout by Fresno (24-1), the Silverswords (16-14) were able to make the next two sets competitive by winning the next set and dropping the third set by only four points. However, the Sunbirds showed why they are ranked No. 10 in the AVCA National Poll in the last set with an easy 13-point win.
“I think we kind of got lucky into building a rhythm [in sets two and three], we didn’t work to build that rhythm ourselves,” Hoke said. “They [Fresno] made some errors that afforded us a little bit more confidence. … Being a new situation for a lot of our players, I think going back to just it’s a really great growth moment.”
Chaminade struggled with errors late in the match, with 15 errors in the last two sets alone. Fresno only committed 13 errors all match. Chaminade committed 11 of those errors with its serves, leading to a lack of momentum for the Silverswords. The Sunbirds were able to take advantage of their serves with 10 aces. The rest of the stats were close between the two teams.
Reina Kruger was the kill leader for the Silverswords with 9 kills. The All PacWest second team middle blocker has stepped into the shoes she has been waiting to be in since she arrived at Chaminade three years ago. This is her first year being a starter and playing in every set this season.
“It’s just so amazing to see the hard work of my past two years here finally paying off and finally getting that opportunity,” said Kruger, a junior captain for the team. “It comes from the rest of the team, too. Just always being supportive, always pushing me to be better every day. Such a fantastic team and so grateful for this opportunity.”
Hoke put an emphasis that this young team, with 10 new players, has learned a lot this season, like in this semifinal match. The team will look to build on this season going into next year. Right-side hitter Alizaysha Sopi is looking to return one more year, even though she is a senior. The team leader in kills with 257 and captain this season would be an important returner for the team going into next year.
“I’m really hoping it’s not my last year, I really love this program, the coaches, and the girls,” said Sopi, a new transfer from Tennessee State University but who grew up in Waianae. “When I got to come back home, the coaches instilled a lot of confidence in me, and even when I feel off, I know that my teammates are going to have my back.”
The final between Point Loma and Fresno Pacific will be played Friday at 6 p.m. in McCabe Gym. The winner of the tournament will be given the PacWest Championship and automatic qualification into the NCAA national tournament.