Box Score

SAN DIEGO - Kelli LeClair had 22 kills and posted a ridiculous .487 hitting percentage to propel the Point Loma volleyball team to a three-set sweep of San Diego Christian, 25-17, 28-26 and 25-18, as part Dig Pink Night on Thursday, Oct. 24.

This was the 11th straight win at home for the Sea Lions who improved to 19-4 overall with this non-conference victory. The loss was the fifth straight for San Diego Christian which fell to 4-16.

LeClair needed just 39 swings to record a season-high 22 kills. She also had just three errors in the match to record a .487 hitting percentage. That was her second-best hitting mark of the season behind her performance at Chaminade in which she had 18 kills and no errors (.720 hitting%). Fellow outside hitter Heather Leavitt also had an exceptional night with 17 kills and a match-high 13 digs. The sophomore from Mesa, Ariz., now has 14 double-doubles this season and has recorded double-figure kills in the last 13 contests.

"That is pretty ridiculous," said Point Loma head coach Sarah Gustin about LeClair's 22 kills. "Both our outsides really carried the match tonight. They both played big with a new setter out there and took some very big swings. They are doing a good job of keeping the ball in play, limiting their errors and getting kills when we need them."

Taylor Lane once again stepped up for PLNU at the setter position. She posted an impressive 44 assists during the three sets and also added 11 digs and two service aces. Those 44 assists are the top mark for the any Point Loma student-athlete in a three-set match this season. Christian Fisher also added 12 digs.

Ashley Simpson led the Hawks with 10 kills and a .360 hitting percentage.

Throughout the Sea Lions dominated on offense with 53 kills to the Hawks' 29 but PLNU just never seemed able to put away the scrappy Hawks. SDC pushed the PLNU to extra points in the second set but Lane came through with a kill and a service ace on back-to-back plays with the match tied at 26-26 to lift the Sea Lions to win, their 11th straight in front of the hometown fans. 

"We definitely love playing at home," said Gustin. "Winning brings the crowds and we had a great crowd tonight with their Dig Pink shirts on. They have learned volleyball and have become a great volleyball crowd. We love their support and hope we can keep winning at home."

Tonight was also a special night as the PLNU volleyball hosted its annual 'Dig Pink Night.' Students and fans showed up in their pink gear to support the Sea Lions and continue to raise awareness of breast cancer. The student section was filled in field of pink as the PLNU Green Sea supported the event by handing out t-shirts to all students in attendance.

"It is always good to raise awareness for a variety of causes, and October is breast cancer awareness month," Gustin explained. "The sport of volleyball especially has embraced that and pretty much every program in the country does a Dig Pink Night and we want to be a part of that movement and show our support for breast cancer awareness. Hopefully we got lots of donations at our bake sale and we will be able to donate it to breast cancer research."

This was the last non-conference match of the season for the Sea Lions. They will now begin a stretch of seven conference matches to close out Pacific West Conference play. The Sea Lions currently lead the conference by one match over BY-Hawaii and will put their place in the standings on the line this Saturday (Oct. 26) when they travel to Asuza Pacific to face the Cougars at 3:00 p.m.

"We are just looking to keep improving on the little things," added Gustin. "We let points slips away from us tonight and we are trying to improve that so it doesn't come back to bite us later."