HONOLULU, HAWAII -- Vanguard women's volleyball lost to Chaminade 3-1 on Monday night at McCabe Gym, with set scores of 23-25, 13-25, 14-25 after the Lions claimed set one from the Silverswords 25-22. The Lions hit .385 to take the opening set, but Chaminade won the final three sets to finish the match with a .351 hitting rate, with VU ending with a .121 mark. The night was a highlight for
Haylee Long, who had a career-best .421 hitting percentage with a team-high 11 kills on 19 swings. VU dropped to 5-13 overall and 3-8 in Pacific West Conference play, while CUH improved to 11-10, 5-6.
What Happened? VU traded points through the opening half, with Long,
Abigayle Gotwals,
Kayla Robinson and
Daphne Raymond producing kills before Gotwals' ace gave the visitors a 13-9 advantage. Chaminade came back to tie the set three times over the next few rallies, but Long and
Kate Fagundes shoved the Lions ahead on a 5-0 stretch, with Long pounding out three kills and Fagundes sliding in two aces. However, Chaminade cut the margin to 22-21 soon thereafter, but VU answered with a Raymond kill and a slam from
Meadow Hobbs. After a service error, another Hobbs kill from
Julia Ringenberg was enough to complete the victory for the Lions, who took the first stanza 25-22. The Blue and Gold had a team-high .385 hitting rate in the first period, with CUH collecting a .375 mark.
Set 2
The set stayed tight through a 9-9 tie as Long had multiple kills and VU also got offense from
Saniyah Neal, Robinson and Raymond. Chaminade built separation later through a 5-2 interval, but the Blue and Gold countered with a 3-1 punch to reel in the gap to one at 16-15. While CUH remained ahead over the next few rallies, the Blue and Gold answered with its longest verified push of the set with Ringenberg serving. Gotwals, Ringenberg, and Raymond each had a kill, with two Silversword errors granting VU a 23-21 advantage. The Lions were poised to surprise the Silverswords, but the hosts had other ideas, as they stole the final four points to win the frame 25-23. The Silverswords hit .314 in the second and held VU to a .167 percentage.
Set 3
VU spent the third set trying to answer Chaminade's service pressure, but Chaminade built a multi-point lead early behind a 5-2 start. Long had two early kills from
Macy Kavanaugh, while Raymond and Robinson added kills to bring the Lions to within striking distance at 11-8. Despite the charge, Chaminade scored four straight points to move ahead 15-8 before Robinson stopped the stretch with a block, but Chaminade finished off the set after that in rapid time to claim it 25-13. The Silverswords hit .333 in the frame, while Vanguard fell to a negative 0.065.
Set 4
The Blue and Gold finished the fourth with a .000 attack rating, while CUH propelled themselves to the match victory with a match-high .393 mark. Hobbs and Long had the two early strikes for VU, but Chaminade soon led 7-4. After that, the hosts cobbled together 5-1 and 5-0 streaks to run out to a 19-9 edge, with Hobbs and some CUH miscues giving VU a 4-0 stretch later in the set. A final kill by CUH gave the hosts the win 25-14.
Behind Long came Gotwals, Hobbs, and Raymond, who each had five kills. Ringenberg had 13 assists, with Kavanaugh next with 10. Ringenberg tallied a team-high nine digs, with Hobbs and Kavanaugh next with eight. Fagundes had two of the four aces that the Lions produced, while Robinson had the team's only solo stop to go along with one of the four block assists.
What's Next? Another late start in California, as the Lions play the Sharks of Hawaii Pacific tonight at 9:00 p.m.
