Box Score
KISSIMMEE, Fla. - The 2013 Point Loma volleyball team is your NCCAA National Champions. The Sea Lions completed their run to the title by taking down Azusa Pacific 25-21, 25-20, 15-25 and 25-19 on Saturday, Dec. 7.

The Sea Lions went a perfect 6-0 at the national championship tournament, dropping just two sets in the process. PLNU (30-7) captured its 30th win of the season in the process, its most since 2001 (35-4).

Savannah Wedemeyer, who was named the 2013 NCCAA Player of the Year, dished out 53 assists in the contest, while adding three kills and seven digs.

Heather Leavitt was the leader for the Sea Lions this evening with a PLNU-high for the tournament 24 kills. She hit .298 and dug 11 balls for her team-leading 25th double-double of the season. Kelli LeClair also added a double-double from her outside hitter position with 13 kills and 17 digs.

Alyssa Dwyer was named the MVP of the NCCAA Championships as she was a dominant force for the Sea Lions in all six matches. Today she had 11 to give her 91 total kills in the tournament. She hit .407 over the six matches. She also added 17 blocks (10 solo), six aces and 28 digs.

For the fifth time in six matches at the NCCAAs Point Loma's defense held its opponent to an under-.200 hitting percentage as it limited the Cougars to a .193 mark for the match.

Each set was a battle as these two teams met for the fourth time this season. In opening set PLNU jumped in front 19-13 and held off a late Azusa charge. APU closed the score to 22-21 but PLNU scored the final three points in a row, two of which came on kills by Leavitt, to win the set 25-21. In the second set the two teams traded points until it was tied at 19-19. The Sea Lions would then display their ability to close as it score five of the next six points and once again finished the set on a kill by Leavitt.

The third set was not good for Point Loma. It fell behind early 15-5 as it never scored consecutive points. The set would continue in that same manner as APU won the third 25-15. PLNU knew it did not want to go to a fifth set and it proved it with a quality bounce back performance in the fourth. It jumped on APU 7-3, but the Cougars would not go away and clawed their way back to tie the set at 13-13. LeClair and Wedemeyer then led the Sea Lions on a 5-0 run. LeClair recorded four kills in the five point run, all on assists by Wedemeyer, to put PLNU up 18-13. Point Loma then once again utilized its ability to close a set as it scored four of the final five point to win the set 25-19, which included the match-clinching kill by Leavitt as her teammates then stormed the floor as NCCAA Champions.

"This was a huge step overall in the program because we are building an NCAA team, one that has pride in the tradition of winning, so to be able to win an NCCAA Championship legitimizes everything we have done throughout the season," said Point Loma head coach Sarah Gustin. "It also gets us ready for next year as we transition to the NCAA. We have the confidence to know we can win a championship and prepares our program for the next step." 

PLNU won three of the four matches against APU this season, including defeating them in both the NCCAA West Regional and National Championship. The Sea Lions' only loss in the season series on the road came when Wedemeyer was out with an injury.

This match capped off a very successful season for the Sea Lions in which they reached nearly all their goals. They finished second in the Pacific West Conference standings, at 16-4, to BYU-Hawaii, who won the NCAA Regional and will move onto the NCAA Championships. PLNU also captured the NCCAA West Regional and won 11 straight matches in conference play. 

"Goal setting is always interesting because you want to set it high enough to challenge yourself but also make it realistic," Gustin added. "All season we knew it was realistic that we could win an NCCAA Championship, so that was always in the back of our minds."

APU was led by Alicia Utke and Joy Reinke who each had 11 kills in the match.

In addition to Dwyer being named MVP of the NCCAA Championships and Wedemeyer earning Player of the Year honors, each was named an NCCAA first team All-American. Leavitt added second team honors.