SAN DIEGO – Point Loma Nazarene volleyball – and everyone in attendance in Golden Gymnasium – went on a rollercoaster ride Tuesday night. Though pushed to five sets for the third time in four matches, the NAIA tenth-ranked Sea Lions grabbed a 3-2 win (25-17, 20-25, 25-20, 18-25, 15-12) against visiting Vanguard and halted a three-game conference skid in the process.

The much-needed triumph pushes PLNU's record to 10-3 overall, 2-3 against Golden State Athletic Conference competition. No 21-ranked Vanguard fell to 13-7, 2-3 GSAC.

The first two sets set the tone for the match. The Sea Lions turned up the pressure after an initial back-and-forth to cruise past Vanguard in the match's opening set. Tabitha Henken, Taylor Lane and Alyssa Dwyer paced the offense with seven, four and three kills respectively.

As a unit PLNU hit at a .447 clip in the first stanza. The Sea Lions' hitting percentage took a dramatic downturn in the second, slipping to .147. Point Loma also went from one error to nine over the first two sets. The score reflected that shift; the visiting Lions evening the match after winning the second by five.

The hot and cold Sea Lions went right back to being hot in the third, hitting .429 and pulling out a five-point win.

The PLNU cart skidded off the tracks in the fourth. Vanguard seemed to be playing at a much faster pace than the Sea Lions, especially early on. PLNU contributed to VU's success in the set with costly mistakes, including four service errors.  When the smoke cleared the Lions had evened the match at two sets apiece.

That fourth set might have been the difference in the match, however. The Sea Lions were down 21-9 at one point but did not throw in the towel. Instead, they fought hard all the way and although they dropped the set, they reclaimed some momentum.

Point Loma used that momentum to charge out to leads of 4-0 and 10-5 in the decisive fifth set – fueled by five winners from Alyssa Dwyer – and held off the Lions for a three-point victory. PLNU lost the previous five-setters they played this year.

The Sea Lions hit .308 for the match to .247 from Vanguard. Henken led PLNU with 20 kills followed by 15 from Dwyer, 11 from Lane and nine from Delaney McCraney. With five blocks, Marissa Ellow was a force at the net. Aimme Bird and Natalie Hamill shared the setting duties. Bird had 30 assists, Hamill 26. Lane led the team with 15 digs with Caitlin Bernardin adding 12.

On a soar note, the Sea Lions made 16 service errors and 21 attack errors.

Vanguard's Kauwila Lavea paced all players with 23 kills with teammate Stevie Hurlbirt adding 15 winners.

Point Loma hosts The Master's this Saturday at 7:00 p.m. The Sea Lions will be observing breast cancer awareness month during the match by wearing pink jerseys and throwing a baked goods sale in the lobby of Golden Gym. Proceeds will go to the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Foundation.