The Chaminade women’s volleyball team earned yet another opportunity to chart the uncharted.
Building off a stunning first-round, five-set upset of top-seeded Alaska Anchorage a day prior, Chaminade authored a 29-27, 25-17, 25-21 sweep of the NCAA Division II tournament’s No. 4 team in the West Region, Cal Poly Pomona, at host Western Washington’s Carver Gymnasium in Bellingham, Wash., on Friday.
Coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke’s Silverswords reached a regional final for the first time in program history.
“These guys are amazing,” Kabalis Hoke, a CUH alumna, said of her players in the NCAA’s postgame press conference. “We are just so, so proud to be able to represent the Pacific West Conference. It really prepared us to be here. It was unfortunate we were the only team from our conference (in the West Region), so we want to make sure we give a shout-out to them.”
Sasha Colombo had a match-high 11 kills and four blocks, Sophie Schilling had nine kills and no errors on .643 hitting and Lataisia Saulala and Ajack Malual had eight kills apiece as Chaminade, the eighth and final seed in the West, won its 10th straight match and 23rd of 24.
The Silverswords (26-7) face third-seeded Cal State Los Angeles (23-6) at 5 p.m. Hawaii time on Saturday for the right to be one of eight teams to travel to Seattle, where the Division II championship will be decided in early December.
Cal Poly Pomona (24-6) jumped out to a 20-14 lead in Set 1, only to see the Silverswords rally to tie it up. The Broncos again seized control with a 24-21 advantage, but Chaminade staved off three set points, plus another two in extras, before Malaul’s consecutive kills sealed the set.
Chaminade led throughout Sets 2 and 3, and when Pomona crept within 23-21 with its season on the line, Greta Corti got a kill and Brooklyn Pe‘a and Saulala teamed up on a block to clinch the berth into the round of 16.
Cal State L.A. swept Chaminade in Los Angeles in a pre-conference tournament on Sept. 2, a match that preceded a 13-match winning streak by the Silverswords.
Brian McInnis covers the state’s sports scene for Spectrum News Hawaii.