Saturday, September 29, 2001
[ DIVISION II SPORTS ]
It wasn't close to easy, but the Hawaii Pacific women's volleyball team kept on streaking with a victory over Chaminade last night. Sea Warriors sweat to win
41st consecutive matchBy Brandon Lee
blee@starbulletin.comThe defending national champion and top-ranked Sea Warriors improved their current NCAA Division II-best winning streak to 41 games, dating back to the start of last season, with a five-game victory over the Silverswords before 558 fans at the Blaisdell Center Arena.
The 30-24, 24-30, 30-23, 25-30, 15-10 victory gave HPU (13-0, 7-0) sole possession of first place in the Pacific West Conference and dropped Chaminade (5-6, 2-1) into second. The two hook up again tonight at 7:30 with the Sea Warriors hosting at St. Andrew's Priory Gym.
"We got lucky," said HPU coach Tita Ahuna, whose team is now tied for second place historically for consecutive Division II wins with Nebraska Kearney's 1993-94 squads. A win tonight would put them four away from tying the all-time mark of 46, established by Ferris State in 1984.
"Chaminade came out with some fire and tenacity," Ahuna said. "They made us step up our game. We knew the match was going to be like this; we didn't expect any less because they're a great team."
Leading the way for the Sea Warriors was outside hitter Roberta Robert with match-highs of 24 kills and 24 digs. Middle blocker Andrea Wean contributed 20 kills, while setter Nia Tuitele dished out 54 assists.
Pacing the Silverswords was outside hitter Valasi Sepulona with 20 kills, while Audrey Brady and Julianne Hastert added 17 and 15, respectively.
For the match, HPU outhit Chaminade .206 to .182, though the Silverswords had more digs (81-69), blocks (11-8) and aces (10-7) than the Sea Warriors.
"My heart is broken," Chaminade coach Glennie Adams said. "We failed to execute when we needed to, and they made fewer mistakes. (But tomorrow) it's anybody's game."
In other PacWest action last night, Brigham Young-Hawaii beat host Hawaii-Hilo, 30-22, 25-30, 30-16, 30-27.
Sara Pilgreen had 12 kills and Emily Hutchinson added 11 for the Seasiders (6-4, 2-3).
Karla Ribeiro led the Vulcans (6-9, 1-6) with 18 kills. Ashley Moeai also had 15 kills.
Hawaii Pacific
BYU-Hawaii
Chaminade
U.H. Hilo