(SAN DIEGO) Westmont did PLNU Volleyball a favor over the weekend by beating Biola, Point Loma's closest rival in the PacWest title race.
However, the Sea Lions were in no mood to give the Warriors a thank you gift, as Point Loma defeated Westmont in a five-set thriller (25-20, 23-25, 17-25, 25-12, 15-8) on Tuesday night to open up a two-game lead atop the conference standings.
"They completely grabbed ahold of the energy," Head Coach
Jonathan Scott said about Westmont leading 2-1 in the match. "They kept hitting us and it took us a while to get up and respond, but I'm really proud of these girls. That's exactly what they did."
Westmont, in its first season in the PacWest, came out of the gates strong and took an early 9-3 advantage in the first set.
After an
Abigail Nua kill, Nua then served during five-straight Point Loma points, two of which came via an ace.
Back-to-back kills from Nua, her sixth and seventh of the set, then gave PLNU its first lead at 17-15, which the Sea Lions didn't relinquish.
"I could tell early on it was one of those nights for her," Scott said about Nua. "We've been fortunate this season that we haven't had to rely on that like we did a little bit last year, but we kind of did tonight and it was good on her. She had a great performance out there."
Westmont once again developed a sizable lead in the second set, 19-12, only for the hosts to storm back and take a 22-21 advantage on
Sophia Baugh's ace.
An opposing attacking error put Point Loma up by two, but the visitors scored the next four points to tie the match before taking the third set as well to seriously threaten PLNU's unbeaten start to PacWest play.
With the Sea Lions on the brink, an 8-0 PLNU run in the fourth set helped the hosts force a deciding fifth stanza.
Sophia Baugh served a pair of aces during that streak before later a
Bailey Williams kill ensured a fifth set would be played.
That fifth set quickly became the
Abigail Nua Show, as the sophomore outside hitter tallied seven kills in the final stanza to close out the match for the Sea Lions.
PLNU took an immediate 6-0 lead in the fifth, but Westmont threatened to come back, getting to within two at 7-5. However, Nua recored yet another kill before her service ace clearly shifted the momentum back to the hosts, who officially clinched the match on a combined block from
Torina Hommes and
Lauren Phillips.
"(I told the team) good job winning ugly," Scott said of his speech to his players after the five-set victory. "Good teams win pretty and they also win ugly."
Joining Nua in double figures for kills was
Grace Hicks (four blocks) with 11, while Hommes (nine kills, five blocks) and
Bailey Williams (eight kills, 10 digs) were threats on both sides of the net.
Baugh (11 digs, three aces) and Phillips each dished out 22 assists, whiel
Macy Reynolds led the team with 20 digs.
The PacWest Defender of the Week
Anna Massari tied for the team lead with five blocks.
Point Loma (12-4 overall, 9-0 PacWest), the PacWest Team of the Week, now hits the road for three matches, beginning on Saturday at Fresno Pacific. First serve is scheduled for 3 p.m.
