HONOLULU – Chaminade University rallied from a 2-1 deficit to beat Simon Fraser University, 21-25, 27-25, 18-25, 25-20, 15-13, handing the Clan its second straight five sets loss at the Hawaii Invitational Thursday at McCabe Gym.
Earlier in the day, the Clan dropped a five sets decision to BYU-Hawaii, losing 25-27, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 15-10 in their season opener and first game in the Hawaii Invitational Tournament Thursday afternoon at the Cannon Activities Center in Laie, Hawaii.
"We played two hard fought matches today and I saw a lot of good things," said Clan head coach
Gina Schmidt. "We had contributions from everyone who stepped on the floor."
"While we didn't get the results we were looking for, these experiences will pay dividends later in the season," she said.
Chaminade University Port Moody, BC, native
Emma Jennings, who transferred from the University of Toronto, led the Clan with 17 kills while
Devon May had 14 against the Silverswords.
Keani Passi put down a match-high 20 kills for Chaminade, who were playing their first game of the tournament against the Clan.
The Clan jumped out to as many as a three-point lead midway the first set but Chaminade forged ties at 17 and 19 before SFU ran off three straight points to help them seal a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, SFU rallied behind a 10-4 run, eventually taking a 15-14 lead on an
Alison McKay ace. The Clan's lead increased to 19-17 but Skyler Curry delivered two service aces to put Chaminade up 21-19. SFU rallied again, sending the set into extra points. Passi then stuffed
Devon May at the net to give Chaminade the 27-25 win, tying the match at 1-1.
Simon Fraser opened a 9-2 advantage in the third set, and led by as many as 12 points, eventually winning 25-18.
Chaminade again rallied in the fourth set to win 25-20 after the teams were tied at 14.
The decisive fifth set was nip-and-tuck all the way before Chaminade went on a 4-0 run and then the Silverswords' LaBrie slammed down the match-winner for a 15-12 victory.
SFU junior
Tamara Nipp dished out a match-high 37 assists with 11 digs. Alison Mckay, who played with the Canadian national "B" team this summer, contributed a match high 25 digs.
BYU-Hawaii Junior
Devon May led the Clan in kills with 21 and also added 9 digs against the Seasiders. Red-shirt sophomore
Madison Power and freshman
Tessa May combined for 22 kills, with May also adding seven blocks. Nipp recorded 50 assists.
BYU-Hawaii's Sinamoni Tonga led all players in kills with 23.
Simon Fraser was able to build a 15-12 lead in the first set, but BYU-Hawaii went on a four-point run to take the one-point lead. After the teams traded points to tie the set at 25-25, Simon Fraser's May sealed the 27-25 victory with a kill.
BYU-Hawaii won the second set 26-24 win.
The match remained close in the third set as both teams kept within two points of each other until the Clan grabbed the final three points to take the 25-22 victory.
The fourth set began with a three-point run by BYU-Hawaii and the lead changed hands several times. Malary Reid ended the set with a kill, leading BYU-Hawaii to a tightly-contested 25-23 victory.
The Seasiders started the fifth and final set with a 5-1 run propelled by the strong service game from Ying Yun Chen, who had seven aces to go along with a match-high 53-assists. The Clan battled back to close within one at 10-9, but Reid took over with two blocks and a kill to give the Seasiders the 15-10 win
SFU returns to action Saturday for two games against Humbodt State and Hawaii Pacific on the third day of the Hawaii Invitational.
The Clan is on the road for its first eight games of the season.
The home opener for the Clan and the start to the Great Northwest Athletic Conference season is Sept. 17 against Seattle Pacific at the West Gym. The game is being billed as Red Night and all fans are encouraged to wear red to show support for the Clan.