HONOLULU, Hawaii. -- A small amount of revenge was garnered by Vanguard women's volleyball on Saturday as the team defeated the Silverswords of Chaminade University of Hawaii 3-1.  The Lions (12-3), who had given a good account of themselves at home but lost in Pacific West Conference action to CUH, won yesterday 21-25, 25-22, 27-25, 25-21 to knock off the defending conference champs.  It is also the first win over CUH by Vanguard in program history.  The Silverswords dropped to 11-9 and lost to both VU and Biola at home over the weekend.  Vanguard's attack was led by a balanced performance across all sets, highlighted by their match-high .379 hitting percentage in the first set.
 
What Happened?  The first set opened with Viktoria Dickson securing the first point on a kill assisted by Macy Kavanaugh, but Chaminade responded with the next four points.  Some service aces and a few VU errors extended Chaminade's advantage to 12-6, and the Lions closed some as the set went along, but the lineup could not equalize the score.  Morgan Cole and Abigayle Gotwals each added kills, narrowing the gap to 21-17, and eventually 24-21, but a kill by the Silveswords gave the home side set one 25-21.  CUH hit a team-best .313 in the first, while the Lions parried with a match-best .379 rate in the opening frame.
 
Set 2
Vanguard started to piece together a steady attack in the second set, overcoming an early deficit. Things started with Chaminade taking a 2-0 edge, but the Lions responded with a big block by Adeline Galvanoni and Payton Darm, narrowing the score to 4-3.  Chaminade rattled off four unanswered points, but Vanguard fought back, tying the score at 11-11 following a series of attack errors.  Kayla Robinson joined both Dickson and Delaney Hill on blocks during that stretch, and the VU swings started to find gaps on the floor after that. The Lions pulled ahead with a decisive 6-0 run, featuring kills by Cole and Galvanoni, and Vanguard maintained its lead despite Chaminade's late efforts ( a 6-2 run). Galvanoni's final kill, assisted by Kavanaugh, clinched the set for the Lions at 25-22.  VU hit .310 in the period and forced CUH down to a .163 mark.
 
Set 3
Vanguard secured a tense victory in the third set, highlighted by a late surge. Early on, Chaminade struck for the first three points, but an ace from Abby Lutterloh and kills from Cole and Galvanoni leveled the score at 4-4. Both teams traded points through the middle stages, which featured six ties and each team holding and losing slim leads.  Cole tied the set at 19-all, but CUH snagged the next two points to get over 20 first.  Yet, back-to-back kills by Dickson and Galvanoni tied the period at 23-all and an error put the Blue and Gold in the lead.  CUH scored the next two to regain the advantage, but two Silversword errors and a strike by Cole gave Vanguard the set 27-25.  The Lions hit .367 in the third stanza and CUH leveled up a little from the second for a .235 rate.
 
Set 4
The Lions secured a 25-21 victory in the fourth set, and the team charged out to an early advantage.  Lutterloh's serving was instrumental in their early 7-2 run, which included a service ace and two kills by Robinson. CUH narrowed the gap to 12-9, but VU bounced back with a 6-3 stretch.  Cole contributed consecutive kills, with Gotwals, Hill, and Julia Ringenberg also finding paydirt to ramp the score up to 18-12. A kill by Cole and a solo block by Robinson put the Blue and Gold ahead 21-13, and despite a late surge by Chaminade, which closed the gap to 24-21, Hill sealed the set and match with a decisive kill from a Ringenberg assist.  Vanguard hit .310 again in the fourth and put CUH down to a match-low .158 mark.
 
The Lions hit .342 for the set, while the Silverswords had a .211 clip in the contest.  Despite having fewer kills and aces, the Lions won at the next 10-4 after not winning that battle at home.  VU also had a 42-41 victory in digs on the night.  Cole ended two digs shy of a double-double (eight digs), but mashed a season-high 19 kills to the ground.  Both Robinson and Galvanoni were next with eight strikes.  Kavanaugh had 24 assists and 11 digs to lead VU, while Darm led the team in the block department with three assists and two solo stops.  Lutterloh had a season-best three service aces.
 
Why is it Important?  The Lions are now 1-5 all-time against Chaminade in the six matchups that have happened since 1990.  Going forward, all but two games count for the PacWest record, so with games in hand, the Lions can charge for a place in the top four.
 
What was Said?  "We did a great job rebounding today after our match against Hilo.  We had to fight through some things after set one, but we responded after a timeout early in set two," relayed Head Coach Jennifer Dorn.  "It's so tough to play on the road in Hawaii.  Everyone stepped up in really important roles and executed them well.  Shout out to Tori (Dickson) and Abby for some fantastic service runs."
 
What's Next?  The Lions play Westmont on the road on Wednesday in another non-counter for the conference record at 7:00 p.m.