Women’s Volleyball Announces Recruiting Class

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

HONOLULU – Chaminade University women’s volleyball coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke announced Thursday seven members of the 2022 recruiting class.

Sophie Schilling is a 6-1 middle blocker from Berlin, Germany, and a transfer from the University of Alaska. She was a 2021 All-Great Northwest Athletic Association honorable mention selection after averaging 2.21 kills and 1.09 blocks per set, the latter which ranked 22nd nationally in Division II. Last August, Schilling totaled 10 blocks in two matches against Chaminade while the Nanooks were in Honolulu for the Hawai’i-Alaska Challenge. She will have two seasons of eligibility remaining.

Also joining the Silverswords this fall is another transfer from The Last Frontier in Hilo native Mahala Kaapuni. The 5-9 outside hitter played one season at the University of Alaska Anchorage, a traditional West Region power, where she finished third on the team in kills at 2.13 per set in 2021 and helped the Seawolves advance to its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance in the past eight years. Kaapuni is an alumna of Hilo High School where she was an all-state honorable mention pick for the Vikings. She will have three seasons of eligibility remaining.

Sasha Colombo is a graduate transfer from Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado, where she was a two-time Mountain West Conference honorable mention selection. During her senior season with the Rams, the 6-2 middle blocker from Milan, Italy, put down 155 kills while finishing fifth in the Mountain West with a .361 attack percentage.

Kanoe Misipeka is a defensive specialist and libero from Pago Pago, American Samoa. The incoming freshman earned second team all-conference and all-district honors as a senior at Liberty North High School in Liberty, Missouri. She also played club volleyball with the Pohaku Volleyball Club in Kansas. Her father, Keiki, is the running backs coach at the University of Hawai’i under new head coach Timmy Chang.

Allexis Iramina arrives from Moanalua High School in Honolulu. The setter and defensive specialist helped Na Menehune capture the O’ahu Interscholastic Association East Division co-regular season title and a third-place finish at the 2021 Hawai’i High School Athletic Association Division I Championships. She also was an All-OIA First Team honoree in 2021. Iramina played her club volleyball with the Jammers Volleyball and Aloha State Volleyball Clubs.

Ajak Malual is a 6-1 right-side hitter from Trento, Italy, playing for Unet Yamamay Busto Arsizio for three years (2017-20) with the U16, 18 and B teams. She was named the best spiker during the team’s U18 regional championship run and has participated in numerous other international competition as a youth.

Libero Nanna Inoue played last season at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas, and spent her freshman year at Odessa College in Odessa, Texas. Inoue, who is originally from Japan, prepped at King Kekaulike High School in Makawao, Maui, where she was the Maui Interscholastic League Division I Player of the Year in 2019.

The ‘Swords are coming off their most successful season in program history after posting a school-record 27 wins, their first Pacific West Conference championship in 25 years and a second NCAA West Regional appearance in the past three championship seasons.