box game one | box game two
IRVINE, Calif. -- NAIA No. 12-ranked Point Loma Nazarene swept their second match in as many tries Friday, sweeping Cal State San Marcos 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-23) at the Crowne Plaza Labor Day Tournament.
Earlier on Friday it was Loma prevailing over Kansas Wesleyan (25-23, 25-23, 25-23).The wins were also the first two for PLNU's new head coach, Sarah Gustin.
“It's exciting,” Gustin said. “I am proud of how the girls played. It was a total team effort.”
The victory against CSUSM comes just hours after the Sea Lions (2-0) defeated Kansas Wesleyan. Though the final result in that one was also a sweep, Gustin thought her squad's effort was much better against the Cougars (8-4), a team that was fresh off a win over No. 1-ranked Fresno Pacific.
“It was good to get the first match out of the way and to win in three,” she said. “But we didn't play that well. The second match was much better. We were more in control and enthusiastic. It is much more indicative on how we are going to play all season.”
PLNU was out hit (.261 to .197) and out blocked (9-2) by Kansas Wesleyan but the Sea Lions made up for those deficiencies by serving up 12 aces. Loma also had advantages in total kills (47-35) and assists (46-33).
Tabitha Henken led the Green and Gold with 14 kills and 12 digs. Delaney McCraney slammed 11 winners and Natalie Hamill had 42 assists. Nicole Eiler also had 12 digs.
Loma was behind early in the opening set before righting the ship and winning by two. The second set saw the two squads tied at 19-19 but the Sea Lions roared back. Set three was just as evenly fought, PLNU pulling away from a 21-all tie to close out the match.
The Sea Lions warmed up against San Marcos, hitting .256. Henken was once again the team leader with 12 winners on 20 swings. McCraney added 10 kills to the attack. Hamill had another 27 assists and Eiler contributed 19 digs.
Point Loma trailed only twice in the entire match, but both times quickly retook the advantage to claim each.
The Cougars were held to a .177 hitting percentage and had just one player, Taylor DeGraff, reach into double-figure kills (11).
The Sea Lions will wrap up play at the Crowne Plaza Labor Day Tournament with two non-conference tilts on Saturday: versus Menlo at 9:00 a.m. and then against Holy Names at 3:00 p.m.
