Chaminade rallies for 3-1 win against Alaska

September 7, 2012

Reilly Stevens produced 16 kills in the four-set loss at Chaminade on Thursday.

Kim Spring produced a match-high 20 kills to help Chaminade rally back to take a 3-1 volleyball victory against Alaska on Thursday night at McCabe Gymnasium.

The Swords improved to 2-3 on the year after winning by set scores of 16-25, 25-22, 25-21 and 26-24, while the Nanooks fell for the second straight match to even their record at 2-2.

“I thought Chaminade played well and I thought we played pretty well,” head coach Phil Shoemaker said. “They were a little more aggressive and played better defense against us. The block didn't seal up as well as we would've liked and that's something we've been working on.”

Spring hit a powerful .462 (20-2-39) to lead the Chaminade offense, while Whitney Viveiros and Crystal Powell each tallied double-digit kill totals with 11 and 10, respectively.Valentin Bevilacqua contributed 42 assists and 12 digs, while Athena Maskarich took home game-high honors with 15 digs.

Chaminade outhit Alaska .246 (55-22-134) to .205 (52-22-146) in a match where both squads committed 22 errors. The Swords held a 6-146 advantage on digs and a slim lead 7-6 on blocks.

The Nanooks were led by senior outside hitter Reilly Stevens and freshman outside hitter/opposite Ixchelle Oleson, as the duo combined for 29 terminations. Stevens fell one kill shy of her career high with 16 after hitting .256 (16-6-39) while Oleson matched her season-best total of 13 as she hit .219 (13-6-32).

Other key contributors included sophomore middle blocker Britt Glaeser, who finished with a career-best eight kills and had a team-high .462 (8-2-13) hitting percentage. Freshman setter Katlyn Mataya upped her season-high in the assist department with a match-high 44 dimes and sophomore middle blocker Morgan Tebbs added six kills and three blocks.

“Reilly played a strong game,” Shoemaker said. “She worked really hard and we're really happy with her offensive game. She did her job pretty well. Once again, Ixchelle had an overall solid game, Britt certainly had a good night and I think Morgan continues to show good things offensively, but it's not enough. When you look at the end product, we just didn't get enough."

The first set remained tight throughout the first half of the frame with nine ties but trailing 13-12, the Nanooks were sparked by three Chaminade errors to take a 15-13 lead. Holding a 17-15 advantage, Alaska reeled off six in a row, three coming from Sword errors to go up 23-15. After a service error by the Nanooks, they closed out the set 25-16 with a pair of attack errors by the hosts.

Alaska led 12-10 in the second, but a 4-1 run by Chaminade gave the home team a narrow 14-13 advantage. Teams kept trading points and Alaska was up 19-18, but four of the next five went the Swords' way and they led 22-20. In a set that saw 18 ties and nine lead changes, it was Chaminade coming out on top by the count of 25-22 to tie the match at 1-1.

The Nanooks broke open from the tight third set to grab a 15-12 lead but the Swords started chipping away and with the visitors up a pair at 17-15, Chaminade used two kills and a pair of Alaska errors to hold the advantage at 19-17. Alaska scored three of four to tie it at 20, but four straight kills by the Swords, three by Viveiros, gave the home team a 24-20 lead. They would go on to take the frame 25-21.

Alaska took an early 4-0 lead in the fourth, but that lead dissipated quickly as Chaminade answered with seven of 10 to tie the set at 7-7. Teams went back and forth for some time, but the home team broke the deadlock at 18-18 with two straight to lead 20-18. Alaska never quit, scoring four of the next six points to knot it up at 22. The Swords and Nanooks traded points and the hosts were on match point at 24-23, but Oleson produced the kill to keep the match alive. Chaminade was able to close the match with a pair of errors by Alaska, including a block by Crystal Powell and Bevilacqua to take the set 26-24 and the match 3-1.

The Nanooks return to action tomorrow night at 9:30 p.m. AKDT when they take on 16th-ranked BYU-Hawaii.