The BYU–Hawaii women’s volleyball team continued their 3-0 start to conference play by adding another win against inter-state rival Chaminade on Saturday, Sept. 30. The Lady Seasiders swept the Silverswords in three straight sets, winning 25-18, 25-18, and 25-21. Sophomores Sinamoni Tonga from Kahuku and Malary Reid from Utah, both had outstanding games to lead the Lady Seasiders to their fourth consecutive victory.
“Our practices have been harder lately and it has caused the team to come together and really unite,” said Reid.
It was the Silverswords who had the hot hand early as they came out firing and took advantage of some errors on the part of the Lady Seasiders to take a 7-2 lead early in the set.
“We started slow in the first set, but were able to respond,” said head coach Mona Ah-Hoy. After cleaning up the initial errors the Lady Seasiders jumped out to a 11-10 lead as Tonga sparked a 4-0 run with a kill. From that point the teams continued to trade points until the Lady Seasiders took a 20-15 lead. After a pair of back-to-back kills by Kathleen Collette Kalougata, a senior from Idaho, and a service ace by Reid the Lady seasiders extended their lead 24-17. Collette would put the finishing touch on the set with another kill to give the Lady Seasiders the set, 25-18.
BYUH continued with the momentum jumping out to a 9-3 lead. Despite a surge by the Silverswords that would bring the game to within two points, the Lady Seasiders continued to maintain their lead. The Lady Seasiders continued to roll and go on to take the set 25-18.
Reid continued to have the hot hand leading into the third set as she got three early kills to give the Lady Seasiders a 6-3 lead. Leilani Adolpho, a sophomore form Laie, added three more kills during a 5-point run to put the Lady Seasiders ahead 12-5. BYU-H continued to roll, maintaining their 7-point lead through most of the set. The Lady Seasiders would close out the game winning the last set 25-21.
The Lady Seasiders now look to continue their undefeated start on the road in California where they will face Concordia, California Baptist, Point Loma, and Azusa Pacific. “The road trip will be a challenge but we plan on it one game at a time and really focus on what we need to do to be better,” said Elizabeth Solaita, a junior psychology major from Laie.