(HONOLULU) After dropping the opening set of its PacWest semifinal match against No. 4 seed Hawai'i Hilo, top-seeded PLNU Volleyball stormed back to defeat the Vulcans in four sets (21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 25-23) and book its spot in the conference championship match.
Point Loma served seven aces in the match to Hilo's zero, with three of those coming in the second set, as PLNU overturned a 12-16 deficit to level the match on a combined block from
Hailey Clark and
Jill Leslie.
The Sea Lions then took an immediate 6-0 lead in the fourth with a pair of aces from
Kira Federico, only for the Vulcans to tie it back up at 7-7.
Point Loma extended its lead back up to as many as six, but after UHH came back to make it 23-23, back-to-back kills from Leslie gave PLNU a 2-1 lead in the match.
The back-and-forth affair continued in set four, as the Vulcans saved two match points to get to within one, but Leslie came to the rescue again with her 12th kill of the match that advanced the Sea Lions to the PacWest title match.
Saren Rogers led all players with 22 kills, while Leslie's 12 came on an efficient .455 hitting %. Clark added 10, while
Ellie Nichols had eight, including five in the clinching fourth set.
Sophia Baugh had 47 assists, while she was one of five Sea Lions with double-digit digs. PacWest Libero of the Year
Macy Reynolds led the way with 18 digs, followed by Baugh (13), Federico (12),
Jolyna Salas (12) and
Hailey Wilson (11).
Point Loma (24-3 overall) will play either No. 2 seed Fresno Pacific in Friday's conference championship at 6 p.m. HT / 8 p.m. PT. The two teams shared the PacWest regular season title and split their two regular season matchups.
POSTMATCH PRESS CONFERENCE
