The No. 10-ranked Sea Lions broke even in conference Saturday with a close sweep of No. 25 Westmont College (28-26, 25-19 and 26-24). PLNU improved to 3-3 in conference and 13-3 overall.
The Warriors fell to 11-5 overall and 1-4 in conference play.
Both teams had low attack percentages – only one player reached double digits in kills – but the Sea Lions' .147 was enough to defeat the Warriors' .093. The low percentages weren't due to defense alone, as PLNU had 49 digs and WC had 42. Errors plagued both teams' offenses. Both committed 23 attack errors. Point Loma had eight service errors and Westmont had nine.
Most of the Sea Lions' serving struggle was in the first set, in which the Warriors got six points from service errors. PLNU was looking for a quick victory after a six-point run brought it from 5-5 to11-5. But the Warriors didn't give up, and with the help six Sea Lions attack and service errors, caught up at 15-15.
The teams were locked up until 26-26 when a kill from PLNU's
Chelsea Joanou and a WC attack error ended the set 28-26.
The second set looked close early, as the teams were neck-and-neck to 11-11 before the Sea Lions powered out a six-point run, fueled by three Westmont errors and two kills from
Tabitha Henken. PLNU held the lead for the remainder of the set, winning 25-19 on another error from the Warriors.
The third set mirrored the first, as the Sea Lions pulled out of a 6-6 tie with six unanswered points. This time Westmont didn't catch up until 17-17, a tie that lasted until 24-24.
Maddie Dahms fired off a winner to make it match point for Point Loma, but, as in the other two sets, the Warriors ended the match with an attack error for a 26-24 Sea Lions victory.
PLNU's front row had lower numbers than usual, as Henken led the court on offense with 10 kills, followed by
Alyssa Pitkin and
Maddie Dahms with seven apiece.
Natalie Hamill had 18 assists and
Kylie Morel had 14 assists and five kills. Libero
Nicole Eiler had 18 digs.
For Westmont College, Stephanie Dunn and Samantha Miller led on offense with seven kills apiece. Erin Dohm had 15 digs and Kailee Blair contributed 16 assists.
The Sea Lions return to Golden Gymnasium Tuesday, hosting Hope International University at 7 p.m.
-Nathan Scharn
