Box score, play-by-play
 
HONOLULU – The match could have gone longer and could have gone the other way. But the Seattle Pacific Falcons didn't let it.
 
Cailin Fellows slammed 18 kills, and Shelby Swanson recorded a double-double of 47 assists and 12 digs on Friday night as SPU survived a back-and-forth match against Chaminade to beat the Silverswords in the Honolulu Invitational volleyball tournament, 3-1.
 
Game scores were 21-25, 25-15, 27-25, 27-25.
 
Senior outside hitter Fellows (Edmonds, Wash. / Edmonds-Woodway HS) came within three kills of her single-match career high. She hit .216 for the match and also had eight digs and two blocks. Of her 18 kills, two of them erased game-point tries for Chaminade and the last one wrapped up the match for Seattle Pacific.
 
Senior setter Swanson (Kennewick, Wash. / Kamiakin HS) logged the 18^th double-double of her SPU career, all of them assist-dig. Along with the 29 assists she had in Thursday's season-opening loss to Sonoma State, she moved past the 2,700 mark, now totaling 2,720.
 
The Falcons (1-1) head across town on Saturday for two matches in the Hawaii Pacific Challenge. First up is Fresno Pacific at 4:30 p.m. PDT, followed by a contest against host Hawaii Pacific at 10 p.m.
 
After dropping the first game on Friday and then cruising in Game 2, the Falcons staved off two game points to win the third one, and another game point to pull out the fourth one and win the match.
 
“We held our composure pretty well tonight,” SPU coach Chris Johnson said. “We focused on controlling our side of the net, and we made some defensive suggestions after the first game.”
 
Junior middle blocker Nikki Lowell (Claremont, Calif.) added 10 kills and hit .364. Freshman middle blocker Jackie Arnold came up with another solid performance, putting down nine kills with just one error and hitting a team-high .615. Arnold also had SPU's top hitting percentage on Thursday when she had four kills and no errors for a .400 mark. Sophomore Madi Cavell (Salem, Ore.) and freshman Ellie Britt (Orange, Calif.) also had nine kills.
 
“Cailin had those 18 kills, and Jackie played great – they couldn't stop her, and they couldn't stop Nikki,” Johnson said. “Our passers did a great job. Our passing and our defense were better tonight.”
 
The Falcons, down 13-10 midway through the third game, rallied for a 22-20 lead. But Chaminade (1-1, with the victory coming in four games on Thursday against SPU's Great Northwest Athletic Conference rival Montana State Billings) moved in front, 24-23. Fellows answered with a kill, but the Swords went on top again, 25-24.
 
Britt tied it with a kill, then followed that with a service ace for 26-25. A Fellows kill clinched the game.
 
SPU built an 11-5 advantage in Game 4 before a 10-4 surge by Chaminade tied it at 15-15. From there, the lead changed hands six times. The Silverswords had a chance to force the fifth and deciding game with a 24-23 lead, but Fellows took care of that with a kill.
 
Up 25-24, the Falcons' first try at match point was denied by Crystal Powell's 13^th and final kill of the night. A Cavell kill gave SPU another try at match point, and Fellows converted it.
 
“We had a little bit of a lull and a little bit of bad luck there (in the fourth game),” Johnson said. “And their hitters were swinging away, so they're going to get some kills.”
 
After hitting just .139 against Sonoma State on Thursday, Seattle Pacific bumped that all the way up to .240 on Friday, including a .500 performance (18 kills and just two errors) in the second game. The Falcons limited Chaminade to .141 hitting, keeping the Silverswords below .200 in Games 2 and 3, and below .100 (.087) in Game 4.
 
 
NCAA WOMEN'S VOLLEYBALL
Honolulu Invitational
Friday, August 31, 2012
McCabe Gym at Chaminade University / Honolulu, Hawaii
 
Seattle Pacific 3, Chaminade 1
 
Game scores – 21-25, 25-15, 27-25, 27-25.
 
Service aces – SPU 6 (Shelby Swanson 3), Chaminade 7 (Matia Spencer 3). Kills – SPU 57 (Cailin Fellows 18, Nikki Lowell 10), Chaminade 50 (Kim Spring 15, Crystal Powell 13). Assists – SPU 53 (Swanson 47), Chaminade 49 (Daniella Montoya 23). Digs – SPU 55 (Ellie Britt 14, Brianna Leenders 14, Swanson 12), Chaminade 70 (Athena Maskarich 21). Blocks – SPU 20 / 1 solo (Lowell 7 / 1 solo, Madi Cavell 4 / 0 solo), Chaminade 2 / 0 solo (2 players with 1). Hitting (kills-errors-attacks) – SPU 57-21-150--.240 (Jackie Arnold 9-1-13--.615, Lowell 10-2-22--.364, Fellows 18-7-51--.216), Chaminade 50-29-149--.141 (Powell 13-7-32--.188). Attendance – 157.
 
Records – Seattle Pacific 1-1, Chaminade 1-1.
 
Next matches – Seattle Pacific vs. Fresno Pacific (at Hawaii Pacific), Saturday, 4:30 p.m. PDT; Seattle Pacific at Hawaii Pacific, Saturday, 10 p.m. PDT.