(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) If Thursday's season-opening victory is any indication, the new offensive system PLNU Women's Volleyball has been working on is here to stay.
 
The Sea Lions put on a dominant display in their first match of the 2022 campaign, sweeping Alaska Fairbanks at the Seawolf Invitational in Anchorage by set scores of 25-18, 26-24 and 25-15.
 
"I was excited to see our new system show itself out there in a real match," PLNU Head Coach Jonathan Scott said.
 
That system was clicking on all cylinders, especially in sets one and three, when the Sea Lions hit .333 and .448 respectively. Point Loma only committed a single attacking error in all the third set.
 
"Grace and Tor played impressively clean volleyball," Scott said of Grace Hicks (eight kills) and Torina Hommes (11 kills), who both hit over .500.
 
Sophomore setter Lauren Phillips dished out an impressive 39 assists, the most in her PLNU career in a three-set match.
 
"Lauren did a great job running the show," Scott said.
 
The Sea Lions got off to a fast start in the opening stanza, as a pair of Abigail Nua kills sparked a 5-0 PLNU run to make the score 7-2. Later, two 4-0 runs then gave Point Loma a double-digit advantage at 19-8 that they managed the rest of the way to win the first set by seven points.
 
The second set was much tighter, with Alaska Fairbanks holding a 15-13 advantage. PLNU then proceeded to score the next four points, with a combined block from Bailey Williams and Grace Hicks putting the Sea Lions back up by two.
 
Alaska Fairbanks responded right away with four-straight points of its own to regain the lead, only for Point Loma to tie the set once more. Back-to-back kills from Hommes started a 4-0 rally that put the Nanooks on the brink with PLNU leading 24-21, but a pair of Sea Lion attacking errors allowed Alaska to tie the set at 24 apiece. However, consecutive kills from Claire Smith and Hommes gave Point Loma a two-set-to-none advantage.
 
The Sea Lions took no chances in the third and ultimately final stanza, going on separate 4-0, 5-0 and 6-0 runs that helped PLNU pull away. A block from Hicks clinched the match, helping Point Loma win the final set by double digits.
 
Nua tied Hommes for the team-lead with 11 kills. Defensively, Hicks led the Sea Lions with five blocks, while Preseason PacWest Libero of the Year Courtney Dyer posted 18 digs.
 
The win bodes well for PLNU's prospects this season, as Alaska Fairbanks (3-2 overall) beat a trio of PacWest teams last weekend, including defending PacWest champion Chaminade. However, Scott and the Sea Lions aren't getting ahead of themselves with a lot of the season still to play.
 
"We still have a lot of work to do, and our sights are set on tomorrow," Scott said after the match.
 
Point Loma (1-0 overall) continues at the UAA Volleyball Invitational on Friday with a pair of matches, first against Pittsburg State at 1 p.m. PT and then against the hometown team, Alaska Anchorage, at 8:30 p.m. PT.