It was a match-up that lived up to all expectations and Point Loma stayed unbeaten with a five-set victory over Chaminade on Saturday. The Sea Lions win Team of the Week and PLNU sophomore Abigail Nua is the Player of the Week. Hawai'i Hilo libero Tani Hoke dug up 22 balls and zipped in four aces during a upset of Biola on the road to earn Defender of the Week honors.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Point Loma's Abigail Nua, OH, Soph., 5-10, Lakewood, Colo.
Point Loma keeps winning and Abigail Nua helped push her team over the top in a five-set win over Chaminade. The 2022 PacWest Freshman of the Year had 22 kills and 19 digs in the win over the Silversword, and also added a solo block and three block assists to complete the season sweep. One night before the Saturday afternoon match, Nua had another double-double with ten kills and ten digs against Hawai'i Hilo. The digs and block totals against the 'Swords were season highs for Nua, who lists second in the PacWest with 3.71 kills per set.
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Hawai'i Hilo's Tani Hoke, L-DS, Sr., 5-3, Kailua, Hawai'i
Hawai'i Hilo defensive specialist Tani Hoke had 43 digs in three matches as the Vulcans won two of three contests, including an upset on the road at Biola. Hoke had 22 digs and four service aces against the Eagles. The senior now has 98 career aces and 1,503 digs since the spring of 2021. The Hawai'i native lists fourth in the PacWest this year with 3.98 digs per set. The four aces were a season high.
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Point Loma Sea Lions
The PacWest Team of the Week is Point Loma, who won their 13th and 14th consecutive matches with victories over Hawaii Hilo and Chaminade in Golden Gymnasium on Friday and Saturday. The Sea Lions are now 14-0 with six conference matches remaining and a three-match lead over the Silverswords (11-3). Against the Vulcans, the Sea Lions rolled to a straight sets win led by Torina Hommes and her 11 kills and .455 hitting percentage. Abigail Nua had a double-double of 10-10 and Macy Reynolds had 14 digs. In the slugfest with Chaminade, Nua had 22 kills and 19 digs, Anna Massari had nine block assists and Reynolds added 18 digs as the home team rallied from a 2-1 deficit for a 23-25, 25-15, 19-25, 25-21, 15-6 victory.
PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Chaminade's Greta Corti had two very solid matches as the 'Swords beat Concordia in four and lost to Point Loma in five. Corti had 24 kills and 14 digs in the win over the Golden Eagles and had an even 15-15 against the Sea Lions. Hula Crisostomo had 37 digs in two matches, 4.1 per set…Academy of Art pulled off a stunner with a sweep of Concordia last Monday, winning just their second match of the conference season….Westmont went 1-0 with a 3-1 win over Hawaii Pacific…Same for Azusa Pacific with a sweep of the Sharks…Hawaii Hilo swept Fresno Pacific, and Vulcan Taylor Tullo hit a blistering .696 with no errors on her way to 16 kills…But the Sunbirds won their next two games against Dominican and Academy of Art to snap a seven-match conference losing streak to give new coach Shauna Felix her first conference wins. MB Madison Girnius had a total of seven solo blocks and six block assists on the week…Concordia also bounced back with a 3-0 win over Hawaii Pacific as Kirra Schulz pounded out 18 kills with a .469 hitting percentage. Kennedy Farley added seven service aces, the best ace mark in the PacWest this year. Farley also had nine kills and eight digs…Abby Brewster hit .500 and had 17 kills in the loss to Hilo. Mary McDonnell had 22 digs for the Eagles. Samara Cruz had a double-double with 15 kills and 11 digs for the Vulcans.
RECORD BOOK WATCH: Biola's Abigail Copeland has 393 total blocks, now fourth all-time, with Azusa Pacific's Julianne Miller (2016-19) on top with 465. Next on the rung for Copeland would be the third spot, occupied by HPU's Haley Dorfler's 394 (2011-14). Copeland is also second in solo blocks with 108. Caitlin Torres of Notre Dame de Namur (2006-09) is the career leader with 120...Azusa Pacific's Annaka Jorgenson has 1,470 career kills (2019-23), sixth on the PacWest career list...Fresno Pacific's Corinne Acosta has 1,255 kills, 13th on the same list...Acosta has 1,524 digs, also 13th all-time in the PacWest...Makena Ogas of the Sunbirds has 67 solo blocks, tying her for tenth all-time in the conference...Kirra Schulz had 955 digs, just outside the PacWest all-time Top 25. She also surpassed 1,000 kills last week, now sitting with 1,038 for her career, also just outside the top 25.
LOOKING AHEAD: More good matches this week in the PacWest. Chaminade continues their southern California trip with matches at Westmont (Monday), Biola (Wed.) and Azusa Pacific (Fri.). The Cougars (10-3) are just half a game back of the 'Swords and Biola (9-4) is in the hunt as well. Point Loma will stay home for matches against Hawaii Pacific and Fresno Pacific.
