(SAN DIEGO) The Sea Lions had the cards stacked against them.
With Point Loma down a pair of starters and having lost sets three and four following a 2-0 start, the momentum was clearly in Fresno Pacific's favor.
But PLNU Volleyball rallied to win the fifth set and claim a crucial PacWest victory by set scores of 27-25, 25-21, 14-25, 14-25, 15-7 to move up into second place in the conference standings.
"They didn't win those next two sets, they hammered us in those two sets," Head Coach
Jonathan Scott said. "That was actually an exact flip to what happened at their place. They were up 2-0 on us, we pushed it to five and then they won a fifth battle.
"They're a really well-coached team. They've got a lot of seniors who play with a ton of heart. That was a good win for us."
Point Loma could not have asked for a better start to the match, with
Claire Smith's service ace clinching the first set for the Sea Lions before a Smith kill sealed the second set and put the Sunbirds on the brink.
However, the visitors soared back to dominate the next two sets, hitting .368 and .438 in the third and fourth respectively, to force a deciding fifth stanza.
Fresno Pacific was particularly dominant in the fourth set, leading 18-4, with it looking like the set would finish without a full rotation taking place.
But against all momentum, Point Loma rebounded in the fifth set to win by a resounding eight-point margin. Scott highlighted the heart his team displayed.
"Heart is something we've been talking about a lot," Scott said. "We've had a tough week with several people going down or getting sick. We've gone to scripture. Suffering leads to perseverance and that's what they chose to do, persevere."
Point Loma, who leads NCAA Division II in blocking, showcased its blocking prowess in the final set by winning five points on blocks. That included the match-clinching point, with Smith and
Anna Massari combining for an emphatic block.
"We were all feeling a lot of emotions but we knew we had to stay disciplined and that we could do it in the end," said
Grace Vanderkooi, who had a solo block in that final set. "We leaned on each other more and I think that's what helped us in the end.
"We really focused on playing for the people who couldn't be there, the people who are hurt."
Abigail Nua (22 kills, 15 digs), Massari (11 kills, six blocks) and Smith (10 kills, three blocks) all reached double-digits in kills, with
Lauren Phillips (26 assists) and
Maggie Wolf (20 assists) orchestrating the offense.
Courtney Dyer (28 digs) and
Macy Reynolds (17 digs) led the team in digs.
Point Loma (19-7 overall, 14-4 PacWest) has two more matches in the regular season next week – Thursday at Biola and Saturday at home against Azusa Pacific on Senior Day.
"It gives us all hope that no matter who's on the court, we can still finish games and we're still the best team out there to finish the rest of our season," said
Gabby Hicks, who recorded three blocks in her first start of the season. "It gave us a lot of confidence going into next week of here are things we need to work on, but we're going to be okay no matter who's on the court."
