(SAN DIEGO) In a battle between the lone remaining unbeaten teams in PacWest play, Chaminade's experience shone through in handing PLNU Women's Volleyball its first loss of the conference season, a four-set defeat (20-25, 16-25, 25-23, 18-25) on Friday night inside Golden Gym.
 
"Probably more than anything it was the experience that that team has," PLNU Head Coach Jonathan Scott said on what proved to be the difference between the two sides. "The majority of their lineup were part of a conference title last year. They were more mature with their decision making and have experience with winning more."
 
Point Loma was up to the task early on, holding multiple leads in the opening set. After Chaminade edged ahead, Grace Hicks' kill brought the Sea Lions to within one at 17-18, only for the Silverswords to go on a 5-0 run that all but clinched the set.
 
After a competitive start to the second stanza, the visitors went on another lengthy run, this time a 6-0 streak, to take a commanding 10-3 advantage.
 
"Volleyball is a game of momentum and runs happen," Scott said. "We continued to cut our runs short so they felt like they didn't exist. We made too many unforced errors.
 
"Chaminade played a great game. They beat us, but we ended the rally a lot, so it just highlighted when Chaminade would go on runs and we weren't. They pulled away that way."
 
The Sea Lions showed fight to make it a three-point set at 11-8 after Bailey Williams' kill finished off four-straight points for PLNU, but CUH answered with a 4-0 run of its own to end Point Loma's hopes of a comeback in the set.
 
While unable to muster a comeback in the second, PLNU stayed alive in the match by winning the third set. Chaminade threatened to sweep by holding an early advantage in the set, 6-4 and then later 12-10, but Point Loma clawed its way back to take the lead.
 
After Abigail Nua's kill put PLNU ahead 20-17, the teams proceeded to trade 3-0 runs. First, Chaminade tied the set at 20-20, then the Sea Lions went back ahead by three, only for the Silverswords to once again level the set, this time at 23 apiece. But a Hicks kill and CUH attacking error extended the match to a fourth set.
 
"I'm really proud of the passion and the fight," Scott said. "This team really wants it, so that's the huge win here if we can find one, that we have it on the inside. Now we just need to refine some things."
 
A competitive beginning to the fourth set hinted at a possible fifth set being needed, but 5-0 and 6-0 runs from Chaminade helped the Silverswords end PLNU's seven-match winning streak and condemn the Sea Lions to their first loss in conference play.
 
"I'm not the type of person who finds a lot of good in losing, but there is a part of me that thinks this was kind of a good loss for us," Scott said. "We kind of needed it. We had not been playing our best volleyball the last couple weeks, but we were still winning.
 
"That might've been the wakeup call that we needed to have more urgency in playing a better brand of volleyball."
 
Nua (13 kills) and Torina Hommes (12 kills) each posted double-digit kills, as Hicks nearly joined them with nine. Lauren Phillips dished out 33 assists, while Courtney Dyer set a season-high with 31 digs.
 
After falling short in a battle for first place, Point Loma (11-4 overall) now must gear up for a battle for second place, when the Sea Lions travel to take on Fresno Pacific (7-4 overall, 6-1 PacWest) on Friday at 6 p.m.
 
"It's honestly no different," Scott said of his team's approach going into another high-profile matchup. "We're going to work on some things next week. Before that, the girls just need to rest. It's been a grind, but we're going to focus on ourselves, get a little better and see what it looks like next week."