COSTA MESA -- VU women's volleyball was swept Monday night at home at the hands of the Silverswords of Chaminade University of Honolulu, falling 25-23, 25-13, 27-25. Vanguard hung around in the odd-numbered sets but was unable to secure the final points in each frame. CUH improved to 8-7 overall and 2-3 in Pacific West Conference games, while Vanguard dropped to 5-7, 3-2.
What Happened? A quick spurt by the Blue and Gold put the hosts ahead 3-1, with
Kayla Robinson landing the first kill of the night for VU.
Kate Fagundes then placed an ace in the back row, and
Haylee Long found the floor with her first kill to increase the early advantage, but CUH then slid the first period to a 3-3 tie. It was not until three Silversword errors in the middle stages of the set that either team held a multi-point lead. VU's advantage remained thanks to more Chaminade mistakes, but the visitors soon reeled in the Lions to tie things at 14-14. Chaminade sprung to a two-point lead after that, which held over a few rallies until
Abigayle Gotwals fired down a kill from
Macy Kavanaugh. Fagundes then rang up her second ace of the set to make it 20-all, and the teams exchanged points for four rallies. Yet, CUH tacked on an ace and got a block to vault ahead 23-21. In response, a thumping kill from Gotwals and an ace from
Julia Ringenberg brought Vanguard to level terms, but back-to-back kills for the Silverswords gave CUH the set 25-23. VU hit .156 in the opening frame, while CUH hit .258.
Set 2
While the opening stanza of the set saw few degrees of separation, the Silverswords took a 6-4 edge and strolled to an 18-8 advantage.
Haley Langdon picked up a couple of tallies and
Grace McQuoid teamed up with Robinson for a block, but CUH completed the set with a 25-13 decision. Vanguard hit .143 in the second, while Chaminade had a .600 mark.
Set 3
Gotwals christened the third with an ace, Hobbs added a strike, and Robinson and Langdon combined for a block to get the Lions on the board. VU fought CUH point-for-point after that, yet the Lions revved the engine for a run after a 7-7 tie for six points in a row. Langdon had a kill, Gotwals smashed down two and made a solo stop, and Kavanaugh chipped in an ace during the stretch. However, Chaminade inched its way back into contention to tie things at 17-all behind 5-1 and 4-0 stretches. The two sides slugged out the next few rallies, as the frame was tied three times, but CUH used back-to-back points to take a 22-20 lead. Still, a Silversword mistake and thunderous kills by Hobbs and Long made it 23-23, with another Long slam putting VU on the brink of taking the third. Chaminade rapidly restored equilibrium and went ahead 25-24, but an error knotted the score once more. Despite the brief respite, CUH tallied the next two points swipe the set and the match.
The Lions hit .179 in the match while the Silverswords hit .340 and led in all team categories but blocks, which VU led 6-3. Langdon had a team-high nine kills and a .421 hitting percentage, with Gotwals second with seven kills. Kavanaugh had 11 assists and Ringenberg had nine, while Fagundes paced the lineup with two aces. Robinson had a match-high four block assists, two ahead of Langdon.
What's Next? The flurry of games ceases for the week, allowing VU to prepare for Westmont, who come to the Freed Center on Saturday for a 4:00 p.m. showdown.
