Posted with permission, article and pictures, courtesy of Chaminade University

HONOLULU – The Chaminade University women’s volleyball team Thursday opened defense of their 2021 Pacific West Conference title with a convincing 25-13, 25-15, 25-16 sweep of in-city rival Hawai’i Pacific University at the HPU Shark Tank in the conference opener for both teams.
 
Greta Corti (Varese, Italy/Univ. of San Francisco/Alessandro Manzoni Liceo HS) had a match-high 12 kills while Brooklen Pe’a (Woods Cross, Utah/Youngstown State/Bountiful HS) added 10 as the Silverswords won their third straight, improving to 6-6 overall, reaching .500 for the first time this season.
 
Both outside hitters were highly efficient for the ‘Swords, hitting .458 and .444, respectively, as Chaminade hit .295 in the match.
 
Sasha Colombo (Milan, Italy/Colorado State/Liceo Scientifico Giordano Bruno HS) contributed with eight kills while freshman right-side hitter Ajack Malual (Trento, Italy/Tambosi ETI), playing on O’ahu for the first time in her career, put down six.
 
The Sharks (0-7, 0-1 PacWest) were paced by Ella Dotson’s seven kills with Chaminade holding them to just a .021 attack percentage (21 kills, 19 errors, 94 attempts).
 
The ‘Swords wasted no time in establishing their early dominance when Alexia Byrnes (Chicago/Youngstown State/Saint Francis HS) scored the match’s first two points on service aces. Lataisia Saulala (Morgan Hill, Calif./Oakwood), who broke the school’s all-time blocks record in Chaminade’s most recent match, had a block solo and block assist to help them race out to a 6-1 advantage which later swelled to a 19-9 lead.
 
The second set was more indicative of the rivalry when HPU forced an 8-all tie. But the Silverswords got two Pe’a kills, one from Saulala while forcing three hitting errors as a part of a 6-0 run, helping them at a two-set lead.
 
In Set 3, Colombo accounted for three points on two kills and a block to help the ‘Swords score seven of the set’s first eight points. HPU put together a mini 3-0 run to help them close to 11-8 but CUH later answered with a 7-0 surge to put the contest to bed.
 
Chaminade had 44 kills on the evening while Byrnes out-assisted the Sharks by herself with 26 (HPU had 21 as a team). She also had three of the team’s eight aces with Kendall Rios (Tustin, Calif./Foothill) adding two more. Nanna Inoue (Kula, Maui, Hawai’i/Tyler JC/King Kekaulike HS) had a team-best nine digs. The ‘Swords also out-blocked the Sharks, 8-4. Byrnes, Saulala and Colombo had three stuffs each.
 
And just six days after surrendering 12 aces in a loss at Cal State Los Angeles, the Silverswords did not give up a single ace in the match.
 
Chaminade also won the sixth straight meeting between the two squads. After the series was long-dominated by HPU throughout the 1990s through the mid-2010s, the ‘Swords have won 13 of the last 16 encounters dating back to the start of the 2017 season.
 
The Silverswords are next in action on Sunday, Sept. 11 when they travel to their other in-state rival, the University of Hawai’i Hilo at UH Hilo Gymnasium. First serve is set for 3 p.m.