SAN DIEGO—The Sea Lions hosted the Trailblazers of Dixie State University on Saturday. The teams met earlier in the season with PLNU coming away with a slim five-set victory in Utah. The teams would battle once again with the first set going to extra points, the Trailblazers took the set 26-24. Point Loma hit .344 in the second set on their way to a 25-22 win to even up the match at one set a piece. Dixie State struggled offensively in the third set leaving the door open for Point Loma to take the third set 25-19. The Sea Lions would have their share of offensive struggles in set four falling 25-13. The momentum was in favor of the Trailblazers by set five and PLNU fell 15-10 in the set and 3-2 in the match.
Cara Keturakis was a bright spot for the Sea Lions as she recorded her second triple-double of the season with 35 assists, 14 digs, and 12 kills.
Sophie Wingert would swing for nine kills on a .353 hitting percentage to lead all hitters for PLNU, she also contributed a career-high four aces to the effort.
Julia Malinas was once again one kill shy of her career-high with 16 for the match.
Holley Persson led the team with 23 digs to add to her league-leading total.
Team Records
PLNU (9-15, 6-10), DSU (10-13, 8-7)
Turning Point
With PLNU up 9-8 in the fourth set, the Trailblazers went on a 7-1 run to go up 15-9. Dixie State hit .455 in the fourth set to even up the match before powering through the fifth set as well.
PacWest Implications
Point Loma remains in tenth place with a 6-10 record, while Dixie State is tied for sixth place with Fresno Pacific and Dominican.
Scott's Thoughts
On his team's ability to win tough points: "The Dixie State offense got better and better, they got more aggressive and more confident. Our defense wasn't quite matching their confidence."
On Cara's performance: "That was one of the more impressive matches I have seen out of any player, ever."
On the team's blocking: "Against a team like that, who brings it with power, you have to defend it at the net. That was an area we had really been working on but it was not enough."
On closing out the season strong: "We have got to stay in the moment, we have got to continue to grow. We have done a lot of really great things, we are moving in the right direction and we have to keep going forward."
Scoring Summary
Set 1: DSU 26, PLNU 24
Set 2: PLNU 25, DSU 22
Set 3: PLNU 25, DSU 19
Set 4: DSU 25, PLNU 13
Set 5: DSU 15, PLNU 10
News and Notes
> With her second triple-double of the season, Keturakis is the first player at PLNU to have multiple triple-doubles in a season.
> Down 13-11 in set three, the Sea Lions earned six straight points, on Wingert's serve, to take the lead and eventually the match.
> Point Loma is now 2-2 in five-set matches this season.
> Despite having seven service aces, PLNU had eight service errors.
Up Next
The Sea Lions will continue their home stand next week when they host Hawaii Hilo on Wednesday at 7 p.m. in Golden Gym.
