HILO, Hawaii – After falling behind two sets to none, Saints' Volleyball was able to rally in the third set with improved play by Rachel Gondrezick, Emily Gooding and Ililani Kamaka, but ultimately fell 25-19, 25-18, 18-25, 25-18 to Chaminade.
 
The Saints' (0-2) opening day of the First Hawaiian Bank Tournament and the 2018 season did not go as planned, dropping both matches on the day. Gondrezick increased her hitting percentage to .206 while picking up 11 kills, and Gooding led the team with a .273 attack percentage.
 
Chaminade opened the match with a 10-5 run before kills by Ililani Kamaka and Rachel Gondrezick pulled the Saints to within 12-10. For the rest of the set, the Saints and Silverswords traded blows; however, SMU was never able to eliminate the early deficit, falling 25-19.
 
In the second set, Chaminade established control with an 11-1 run, opening up a 15-4 lead. The Saints managed to cut the lead in half with efforts by Kallie Langford, Annika Briggs and Rachel Gondrezick. Once again though, the early hole was too much for the Saints to overcome as Chaminade secured the 25-18 win.
 
With their backs to the wall, the Saints responded well, starting off with a 7-3 run, highlighted by service aces from Gondrezick and Megan Vernoy. Chaminade continued to try and pull score even, but the Saints relied on Kamaka and Gondrezick, who combined for four kills and block to stem the tide. The Saints sealed the set victory with a kill by Emily Gooding, who finished with four kills and one block in the set.
 
In the fourth set, the Saints' luck ran out, as Chaminade used a 9-3 run in the middle of the set to fight off the Saints' comeback attempt. The match ended with a 25-16 set victory for Chaminade.

"Tonight we saw glimpses of what we can do," said head coach Jon Killingbeck. "Starting five freshman means you are going to have some growing moments and we saw that tonight."
 
As a team, the Saints recorded 46 kills on 145 attacks, with 40 assists, 61 digs and five service aces. Kamaka finished with 10 kills and 14 digs, while Alyssa Bartlett led the team with 28 assists. Courtney Misner led the team in digs at 18 and Gooding also managed nine kills and three blocks.
 
The second day of the tournament will begin at 3:00 p.m. for the Saints as they take on Hawaii Pacific before facing UC San Diego in the 10:30 p.m. nightcap. Live stats of the matches can be found on smusaints.com.