BYU-Hawai'i finishes perfect regular season
By Kyle Sakamoto
Advertiser Staff Writer
The Brigham Young-Hawai'i women's volleyball team has achieved perfection for the regular season.
Up next is the NCAA Division II Pacific Regional next weekend.
Meanwhile, the season is over for Chaminade, which needed to beat the Seasiders last night to have any chance at the postseason.
Noelle Filimoeatu had 24 kills and 22 digs, and Tuli Peters added 18 kills as BYU-Hawai'i beat Chaminade, 30-28, 30-23, 24-30, 30-23, in a Pacific West Conference match last night at the Cannon Activities Center.
BYU-Hawai'i, ranked No. 9 in the AVCA/Division II coaches poll, improved to 20-0 overall and 15-0 in the PacWest. It's the first time the Seasiders have finished the regular season undefeated since 1997, when they finished the year 31-0 and won the NAIA national championship.
"It's good to be undefeated, but our season isn't over yet," BYU-Hawai'i coach Wilfred Navalta said. "We have tough teams to play in the regionals."
Chaminade (17-6, 11-4) needed a victory last night to even be "in the conversation" for a postseason berth, according to coach Glennie Adams. The Silverswords dropped their final two matches, including a crucial loss to Hawai'i Pacific last week.
"We came into this game thinking this is the determining factor," Chaminade senior Ashley Elliazar said. "We knew what was riding on it."
The Seasiders survived a scare last night when Peters, a junior outside hitter, injured her right ankle after colliding with a teammate in the third game.
"We miscommunicated with the ball, and we ended up bumping together and I landed wrong," said Peters, who missed two recent matches with a back strain.
Chaminade led the third game, 15-13, when Peters went down. By the time she came back, Chaminade built a 28-19 advantage. The Silverswords' Trina Kauliakamoa had seven kills in the game after having just four in the first two games.
"Any time our starters or key people go out, it'll change our chemistry, and that's what happened," Navalta said. "But we hung in there and did the best we could. We had some subs that were ready."
The Silverswords led the fourth game, 10-9, but BYU-Hawai'i went on an 18-9 run for an eight-point lead.
Roseanna Vea, a 5-foot-6 middle blocker, ended the match with a kill.
"We don't have a lot of height, but we have a lot of heart," Vea said. "It just took everybody tonight. Tuli went down and everybody had to step up and we came together at the end when it counted."
Navalta said the Seasiders, ranked No. 3 in the Pacific Region, will travel to either San Bernardino, Calif., or San Diego for the regional.
Peters was among four players honored on senior night. She has a year of eligibility remaining, but won't play next season because she is close to finishing school.
"As much as I'd like to come back and play, school is almost over and I don't know if my body will handle it next season," she said.
She played two seasons at Fresno State and redshirted last season at BYU-Hawai'i.
Christina Bobik had nine kills and Faylynn Merrick added eight for the Seasiders.
"I love these girls," Filimoeatu said. "We worked hard together. We've been through ups and downs and hopefully we'll continue to work hard going into regionals next week."
Reach Kyle Sakamoto at ksakamoto@honoluluadvertiser.com.