(SAN DIEGO) PLNU Volleyball is headed to Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
No. 1 seed Point Loma claimed its first ever NCAA West Regional championship on Saturday night, defeating No. 3 seed Fresno Pacific in four sets (25-17, 17-25, 25-16, 25-18) to punch its ticket to the NCAA Championships for the first time in program history.
The Sea Lions will represent the West Region as one of eight teams to compete for the NCAA Division II national title next week, Dec. 11-13.
Point Loma came out energized in front of its home crowd, racing out to a 9-3 lead in set one.
Abigail Nua and
Kyra Miles combined for a block to put PLNU up 15-9 at the media timeout before
Sophia Baugh immediately served an ace upon the teams' return to the court.
Macy Reynolds closed out the first set with an ace of her own, but FPU returned the favor by winning set two by the same margin to level the match.
With the third set then tied at 13-13,
Hailey Clark had four-straight kills as part of a 6-0 PLNU run, before the Sea Lions scored the final four points of the set to put the Sunbirds on the brink.
West Region Player of the Year Nua was limited to just four kills in the first three sets before taking over in set four with nine kills in the set alone. That included match point, as Nua's 13th kill of the match officially sealed the Sea Lions' spot in South Dakota.
Clark led all players with 14 kills, while
Saren Rogers added 13. All-West Region setter Baugh dished out a match-high 50 assists, with Point Loma recording 61 kills to FPU's 35.
PLNU's stellar defense was on full display with 100 digs compared to 75 for the Sunbirds, as five Sea Lions reached double digits in the category.
All-West Region libero
Macy Reynolds (19 digs) led five Sea Lions with double-digit digs, along with
Hailey Wilson (18),
Jolyna Salas (17), Baugh (15) and
Kira Federico (13).
Nua, Baugh, Clark and Rogers represented PLNU on the All-West Regional Tournament Team.
Point Loma (27-4 overall) now awaits its national quarterfinal opponent. The eight regional champions will be re-seeded ahead of the NCAA Championships, which begin on Thursday.
POSTMATCH PRESS CONFERENCE
