Vulcan volleyball voted No. 7 in preseason poll
Chaminade University of Honolulu has won the last two Pacific West Conference volleyball titles, and the league’s coaches don’t see why they wouldn’t be the favorite for three in a row.
The Silverswords, who advanced all the way to the NCAA West Region final in 2022, are the 2023 preseason pick to win the PacWest, receiving 10 first place votes from the 11 conference coaches. The ‘Swords, directed by head coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke, have eight returnees from their 2022 squad that went 19-1 in PacWest play. Chaminade was the only PacWest team to qualify for the NCAA West Region tournament, going in as the No. 8 seed. They promptly knocked off No. 1 seed Alaska Anchorage and swept Cal Poly Pomona before falling to Cal State Los Angeles in the final.
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Point Loma, which was the only team to defeat Chaminade in conference play last year, is the No. 2 pick in 2023. Fresno Pacific, which was tabbed to finish tenth last fall but ended up tied for second with the Sea Lions, grabs the third spot in today’s release.
Kabalis Hoke has 11 newcomers to mold into her system and the Silverswords got a head start with that during a trip to Japan earlier this month. One of those 11 newcomers is Hula Crisostomo, who has been christened the PacWest Preseason Libero of the Year. Other than in Japan, Crisostomo has yet to play a set for the ‘Swords and she might be the first player in PacWest history to ever win a preseason award without having played an official match in her new uniform.
She returns to Honolulu with plenty of credentials. The Moanalua High School alum played two seasons at the University of Texas El Paso, listing fifth last season in Conference USA dig stats (439) and sixth in service aces (41). Prior to that, Crisostomo was a NJCAA First Team All-American at New Mexico Military Institute. At Moanalua, she was a part of three OIA state title teams.
Azusa Pacific is the only team other than Chaminade to receive a first place vote in today’s poll. One of the reasons for that is the PacWest Preseason Player of the Year Annaka Jorgenson.
Jorgenson, a 6-1 outside hitter, is already a four-time First Team All-PacWest selection. She ranks 18th all-time in PacWest kills with 1,186 and was second in the conference last season with 3.63 per set. She was an AVCA All-American in 2021 and was the PacWest Freshman of the Year in 2019.
Fresno Pacific’s Catie Speas rounds out the 2023 special awards as the Preseason Setter of the Year. Speas averaged 5.00 assists per set last season and ranked eighth in the conference in service aces with 35. The third-year Sunbird has over 1,000 career assists and 87 aces.
Jorgenson is also on the Preseason All-PacWest Team with teammate Kyra Palmbush, Chaminade’s Greta Corti and Ajack Malual, Point Loma’s Torina Hommes and Abigail Nua and Concordia’s Kirra Schulz.
Palmbush led the conference in hitting percentage last fall (.377) and was seventh in blocks per set (0.98). Corti is a two-time All-PacWest selection and Malual was a Second Team pick as a freshman for the Silverswords, despite not even playing until the eighth match of the season. Point Loma is represented by the 2022 PacWest Freshman of the Year in Nua and consistent senior Hommes. Nua led the conference in kills per set by a wide margin (4.51) and Hommes was fourth in the conference in blocks per set (1.0) and hitting percentage (.315). Both were First Team All-PacWest picks in 2022.
Concordia’s Schulz rounds out the Preseason team. Schulz was a First Team All-PacWest pick in 2022 and ranked second in the conference in points with 411 (4.07 per set). The two-year starter averaged 3.63 digs per set and 3.58 kills.
Schulz’s Concordia squad is the fourth team listed in the poll after Chaminade, Point Loma and Fresno Pacific. The Golden Eagles, who tied with Biola for fourth place in 2022, has 82 poll points in a tight bunch that includes Azusa Pacific (78) and Biola (74). That half dozen make up the top half of the preseason poll, with UH-Hilo, Academy of Art, newcomer Westmont, HPU and Dominican to follow.
