(DENVER) No. 15 PLNU Volleyball picked up a pair of victories against Top-25 opponents on the opening day of the Colorado Premier Challenge, defeating No. 21 Bentley (25-21, 21-25, 25-16, 25-18) and No. 5 West Texas A&M (23-25, 25-16, 26-24, 25-22) to advance to the tournament semifinal.
In the first match of the day against Bentley, the teams split the first two sets before Point Loma dominated in sets three and four, outscoring its opponents 50-34 across the final two stanzas and holding the Falcons to just a .057 attack % in the fourth set.
Four Sea Lions recorded double-digit kills in the match –
Abigail Nua (14),
Saren Rogers (13),
Kyra Miles (11) and
Ellie Nichols (10).
Then against West Texas A&M, PLNU dropped a close first set before storming back to win the next three.
Point Loma nearly won the second set by double digits to tie the match at 1-1 overall. The Sea Lions were then clutch down the stretch in sets three and four, with Miles ultimately clinching the match with her kill at the net.
Nua recorded 30 kills in the victory, her most since tallying 31 against Concordia on Nov. 3, 2022.
Jill Leslie posted a PLNU career-high 17 kills with a .429 attack %, while Miles added 11 kills for the second straight match.
Baugh set a career-high with 61 assists against West Texas A&M, as she leads the 12-team tournament in assists/set (11.88). Nua leads all players in the tourney with 5.50 kills/set, while
Macy Reynolds is second in digs/set (4.88) and
Kira Federico third in service aces/set (0.63).
Point Loma (4-1 overall) will play No. 25 Wayne State in the semifinals on Saturday at 8 a.m. PT / 9 a.m. MT on the campus of Metro State, with the winner advancing to the championship against either West Florida or Missouri Western.
The third-place match will be played at 3:30 p.m. PT / 4:30 p.m. MT with the championship match scheduled for 6 p.m. PT / 7 p.m. MT.
