Led by 18 kills from Tabitha Henken and a near triple-double from Kylie Morel, NAIA No. 14 PLNU swept San Diego Christian (25-18, 25-16, 25-15) Tuesday night in Golden Gym. The green and gold improved to 17-8 overall and 7-8 in GSAC. The Hawks fell to 10-17 on the season and 1-14 in conference.
 
The Sea Lions had nine team blocks and 42 kills (92 attempts) to hit .359, compared with SDCC's two blocks and 26 kills (93 attempts) to hit .097.
 
PLNU snagged the first two points of the match but soon trailed for the only time in the first set at 4-5. PLNU responded to the Hawks' lead with six consecutive points to take it to 10-5. The Sea Lions finished the set with four unanswered points, with the final point on a kill from Maddie Dahms to make it 25-18.
 
SDCC kept pace with PLNU in the beginning of the second, as the Sea Lions could not build a three-point cushion until 13-10. Point Loma never gave the Hawks a chance to catch up, scoring five straight to end it 25-16.
 
PLNU kept up its momentum in the third set, getting an early 10-3 lead. The Sea Lions totaled 17 before the Hawks reached double digits. A kill by San Diego Christian's Valaree Bergman kept the Sea Lions at match point before Chelsea Joanou wrapped things up with the final kill of the night.
 
Henken was the only player on the court with double-figure kills. Kylie Morel, came up just short on a triple-double, but still showed her hitting chops with nine winners, 14 assists and 10 digs. Nicole Eiler had 11 digs.
 
Lauren Howard led Hawks offense with nine kills. Rachel Allen had 13 assists.
 
The Sea Lions are looking for back-to-back wins as the team hosts Westmont College at 7 p.m. Friday.

-Nathan Scharn