Chaminade opens NCAA Division II women’s volleyball tournament with victory

Chaminade continues to be a force in the NCAA Division II women’s volleyball West Region tournament.

The third-seeded Silverswords recovered from some early shakiness to win their first-round tournament game for the third straight year, 26-24, 27-25, 25-11 over sixth-seeded Stanislaus State at Kellogg Arena in Pomona, Calif.

Chaminade (28-4) trailed 21-13 in the first set before staging a furious rally on the serve of Letizia Cammillucci and winning the frame in extra points.

“Nothing to be said beyond incredibly proud,” coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke said in the postgame press conference at Cal Poly Pomona. “Sure, we started off a little shaky but they found a way to win even when we were down. … The way they battled back showed absolute championship mindset.”

Hilo native Mahala Ka‘apuni led the Silverswords with 12 kills and three aces while Cammillucci, of Italy via San Jose State, supplied nine kills and 12 digs and Anna Stucci, of Italy via Santa Clara, had eight kills and no errors.

Ka‘apuni switched to the right pin in a new role for Chaminade for the postseason.

“In the beginning it was tough, I definitely struggled a little bit, but I was just grateful to be on the court and just had to work through it, find my pace and work with my teammates,” Ka‘apuni said. “All my teammates are the ones that brought me my 12 kills with digs, passes, serve-receive, setting absolutely amazing. I would like to give them all the credit for this position in tonight’s match.”

PacWest Setter of the Year Grace Talpash directed the ‘Swords to a .307 hitting performance.

The Silverswords next face second-seeded San Francisco State (22-6) in a matchup of PacWest and California Collegiate Athletic Association champions in the West semifinals at 5 p.m. Hawaii time Friday. On the other side of the West bracket, top-seeded Cal Poly Pomona beat Simon Fraser in five sets while fourth-seeded Point Loma Nazarene edged Central Washington in five.

Chaminade is familiar with SFSU; it lost in four against the Gators on Sept. 29, after beating Academy of Art in PacWest play earlier that afternoon.

SFSU is No. 21 and Chaminade No. 4 in the AVCA Top 25 poll. SFSU beat seventh-seeded Cal State Los Angeles in five sets following Chaminade’s match.

Stanislaus State (22-8), the No. 24 team nationally, was making its first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. Ellison Weaver led the Warriors with eight kills.

Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii. He can be reached at brian.mcinnis@charter.com.