BOX SCORE

SAN DIEGO—In a critical game against similar-record-holder NAIA No. 24-ranked Westmont, Point Loma Nazarene garnered a 3-0 shutout, outscoring their opponent by 15 total points (25-23, 25-20, 25-17).

While the Sea Lions pulled off the win in the first set, 25-23, they really started to get hot in the second and third, recording hitting percentages of .412 and .333. Westmont (8-7, 2-4) consistently hit under .200 throughout the entire match, although Alison Sharp garnered the most kills of the day, with 14.

PLNU (9-6, 3-3 GSAC) proved a team effort as Tabitha Henken and Alyssa Dwyer each put up 12 kills along with Karleigh Kaczmarek and Maddie Dahms' combined 14 winners. Destiny McIntyre and Aimee Bird recorded 32 assists while Nicole Eiler had 18 digs on the day. Bird, Henken, and Kelsey Barker also contributed a large amount of passing.

“All week we've been talking about teamwork,” said junior Aimee Bird. “We have been working on not just talking about it, but going out and actually being a team.”

The Sea Lions were aggressive throughout, not giving away any petty points to Westmont. As opposed to the Cal Baptist game, for example, this time, Point Loma turned would-be Warrior points into their own.

“Today we were really focused on encouraging each other and being positive. We figured out what helps each other flow and I think we did a great job of staying together as a team, “ Bird said.

The hour-long match seemed to be in the control of PLNU the entire time.

“It's definitely the best we've done so far this year. It's so much better when you're playing for each other instead of just being six players out there,” she said.

Head coach Rochelle Short said on Tuesday that in order for the Sea Lions to win this match, they had to simply “worry about [their] ball.” They did just that, never losing their composure during the three sets.

Point Loma travels to Fullerton on Tuesday, Sept 28 to take on Hope International at 7:00 pm.