(SAN DIEGO)
Courtney Dyer broke PLNU Volleyball's program record for career digs on Thursday night, but the historic occasion was spoiled with Concordia taking down Point Loma in a five-set thriller (21-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-20, 15-13).
"I'm extremely proud," Head Coach
Jonathan Scott said of his team's effort. "That's all we talked about after the match. We've gone through a crazy amount of adversity with people dropping this week. All you can ask for is heart and that's what we showed."
Dyer entered the night 28 digs shy of tying Christin Fisher's program record but wound up with a season-high 39. Dyer's career total is now 2,205, which ranks fourth in PacWest Conference history.
"You're not supposed to have favorites but she's been one of mine for a long time," Scott said of Dyer. "I absolutely love that girl and that has nothing to do with her playing ability. She's pretty good back there."
Dyer wasn't the only one to have a historic night, as PacWest kills leader
Abigail Nua set new career-highs with 31 kills and 19 digs.
"We needed it," Scott said of Nua's performance. "She was in a really tough spot. She was given a lot of balls to somehow manage. Concordia played great defense at the net and blocked a lot of balls, so the fact she got that many kills when they were blocking that many makes it pretty crazy."
In the first set, CUI went on a 5-0 run to take a 20-18 lead before Nua's kill tied the set and a kill from
Claire Smith (16 kills) gave PLNU a lead it wouldn't relinquish.
The Golden Eagles evened the match by winning the second stanza, holding off a late Sea Lion run. Trailing 20-24, a
Grace Hicks kill sparked a 3-0 run to get Point Loma to within one, but Concordia finished off the set with a kill on the next point.
PLNU then came alive offensively in the third, hitting .302, which was twice as efficient as the Sea Lions did in any other set. Three Nua kills helped Point Loma race out to an early 5-0 advantage, before she then scored three of PLNU's final four points to put the Sea Lions ahead two-sets-to-one.
Point Loma continued its momentum in the fourth set, scoring the first four points and taking a 6-1 lead, only for Concordia to fight back and tie the set at 6 apiece. After the Golden Eagles went ahead, a pair of Nua kills helped the Sea Lions tie the fourth at 14-14 before the visitors pulled away with a 7-0 run.
That set the stage for a deciding fifth set, which showed just how little separated the two sides. The two teams battled to an 8-7 start in favor of CUI before
Claire Smith capped off a 4-0 run that put Point Loma ahead by three. Concordia then scored four of the next five points to tie the set, only for
Anna Massari to restore PLNU's advantage with a kill. However, the Golden Eagles scored the next three points to finish off the match.
"One of the fun things about this team this season is we've battled in every way," Scott said. "We've battled with high-octane offense. We've battled at the net blocking. We played with heart across the board."
Point Loma (18-7 overall, 13-4 PacWest) now drops into a tie-for-third in the PacWest standings with Concordia. The Sea Lions will look to bounce back on Saturday at home against second-placed Fresno Pacific (13-7, 12-3), whom PLNU lost to in five sets on Oct. 7.
"I'm just looking forward to seeing these girls battle at practice tomorrow and get a revenge match against Fresno Pacific," Scott said.
First serve on Saturday afternoon is scheduled for 2 p.m.
