SAN DIEGO – Point Loma put their six-game win streak on the line as the PacWest leading APU Cougars came to town on Tuesday night. Despite a tough loss when they traveled to Azusa early in the season, the Sea Lions put up a tough block and a solid defensive effort on their way to the 3-1 victory. Point Loma held the dominant APU middles in check and earned their first win over the Cougars since September 2016.
The Sea Lions jumped on APU early, taking an 8-2 first set lead, before the Cougars found their footing and got into the match. Each set was a battle of wills with big blocks posted on both sides of the net. The Sea Lions had an answer for any APU run in the early going and found a way to outplay the Cougars at almost every turn. PLNU came away with the first set victory, 25-20. After a back and forth set, the Sea Lions capitalized on APU errors to go on a 5-0 run to put set two out of reach for the Cougars, going up 2-0 after a 25-19 set two win.
The Cougars put their best foot forward in set three as they hit .250 in the set limiting themselves to only three hitting errors. The Sea Lions struggled with hitting errors and after allowing APU to go on a 9-2 run, the team fell 25-18. Still leading 2-1 in the match, Point Loma came back into set four with a tough mindset and a will to win. The team played scrappy and found ways to put the ball in APU's court. Azusa Pacific hit only .065 in the set and the Sea Lions capitalized on late errors to take the set, and match, with the 25-22 victory.
Rachael Schlect led the Sea Lions in kills once again, putting down 14 kills on a team high .286 hitting percentage.
Madie Fox put up a huge block totaling six block assists on the night to go along with eight kills.
Jaime Cymbaluk totaled 12 kills, three digs, three block assists, and an ace.
Courtney Dyer came up big on defense with 17 digs to lead all players.
Cara Keturakis ran a solid offense as she dished out 37 assists as well as three digs, three kills, and three block assists.
Team Records
PLNU (14-7, 11-3 PacWest), APU (16-6, 12-2 PacWest)
PacWest Implications
With their loss, APU drops to 12-2 in conference play to tie Biola for first place, but Biola currently hold the tiebreaker over APU. The Sea Lions remain in third place just behind Biola and APU, but now have big wins over each team that could give them tiebreak advantages at the end of the season.
Turning Point
With the Cougars closing in on the Sea Lions lead in the fourth set,
Julia Malinas and
Kayla Chapman got a huge block to keep the Point Loma lead at three points. The block put an exclamation point on the night and gave Point Loma the needed momentum to push through for the win.
Coach and Player Interview
Scoring Summary
Set 1: PLNU 25, APU 20
Set 2: PLNU 25, APU 19
Set 3: APU 25, PLNU 18
Set 4: PLNU 25, APU 22
News and Notes.
> Schlect went 7-for-11 with no errors through the first two sets.
> Point Loma held Julianne Miller to a .167 hitting percentage, she currently ranks second in the nation in hitting percentage at .436 on the season.
> The Sea Lions have had eight or more total blocks in six straight matches.
> The team has totaled their most conference wins (11) since the 2015 season when they had 14.
> With their seventh straight win, it is the Sea Lions' longest winning streak since they won eight straight in 2015.
Up Next
The Sea Lions head to Fresno on Friday evening to take on the Sunbirds at 5 p.m. The team will back at Golden Gym on Oct. 27 when they host Concordia that Saturday at 5 p.m.
