Box Score

LAIE, Hawaii - The Point Loma volleyball team fell to the No. 4 team in the country, BYU-Hawaii, in three sets, 27-25, 25-16 and 26-24 on Saturday, Oct. 18.
 
BYU-Hawaii has now won 11 straight matches to begin Pacific West Conference play and leads the league by one match over Dixie State. The Sea Lions fell four games off the pace in the PacWest as they are now 9-4 in conference and 12-9 overall.
 
The match could have swung either way in the first set but in the end PLNU came out on the wrong side. Point Loma was down 19-17 before scoring six straight points to take a 23-19 lead. However, the Seasiders made a five-point run to take 24-23 lead. PLNU answered right back with back-to-back points to go up 25-24, but BYUH had the final rally with three straight points to claim the first set 27-25.
 
The second set then flew by and before the Sea Lions knew it they were down 0-2. Point Loma bounced back in a third set that saw seven lead changes and 16 tie scores. The Sea Lions led 23-22 and the match was even tied at 24-24 but the Seasiders notched back-to-back points to win the set 26-24 and take the match in three sets.
 
Bethany Mandon led Point Loma with 12 kills and a .308 hitting percentage. Kelli LeClair returned to the court for the first time since the opening match of the year and recorded 11 kills and nine digs. Christin Fisher led PLNU with 16 digs and Savannah Wedemeyer added 37 assists.
 
Reigning PacWest Player of the Year Shih Ting Chen had a double-double with 15 kills and 19 digs. The difference in the match was Seasiders advantage on defense at the net as they outblocked PLNU 11-1. Erh Fang Hsu had eight blocks to pace BYUH. Of the 22 hitting errors for PLNU in the match, half were caused by the Seasiders' block.
 
Point Loma will now return home looking to get back in the win column on Saturday, Oct. 25 against longtime rival Azusa Pacific at 5:00 p.m. The match will be part of Community Day and admission to the event will be free to all.