COSTA MESA -- The Vanguard women's volleyball team resumed Pacific West Conference play Wednesday night inside the Freed Center but could not take a set off of Point Loma. One of the top four teams in the league, the Sea Lions were only pressured by VU in the second set, completing the sweep 25-15, 25-20, and 25-15. PLNU improved to 15-5 overall and 10-2 in the PacWest, with the win giving the school two wins in the three games against VU today. The Lions dropped to 6-14, 4-9.
What Happened? The major area of improvement from the Lions came from the service line, as Vanguard had a 6-4 edge in aces on the night after falling 15-0 in that stat at Point Loma. However, that was not enough to halt the Sea Lions, who hit .414 on the night compared to Vanguard's .093 rate.
After PLNU scored the first two points of the match,
Haylee Long got VU on the board, and an attack error by the visitors knotted things at 2-2. The Blue and Gold forced another tie at 6-6 following a block by
Meadow Hobbs and
Kayla Robinson, with an ace from
Abigayle Gotwals following that. A Robinson strike helped to tie things at 8-8 four rallies later, yet, a 7-1 stretch by PLNU put the Sea Lions ahead 15-9. Though Hobbs delivered back-to-back service aces to end that run, another 6-1 streak from the guests helped PLNU take set one 25-15.
Set 2
A
Daphne Raymond slam and an ace delivered by
Kayla Henninger gave VU its first lead of the night at 2-1 in the middle frame, but the edge did not grow beyond a single point. After a Robinson kill tied the set at 5-5 soon thereafter, the Sea Lions used an 8-3 run to emerge with a 13-7 advantage. Down 17-10 a few rallies later, the Blue and Gold cooked up a 4-0 interval that saw
Haley Langdon land a kill and Hobbs collect a brace to trim the gap to 17-14. However, the Sea Lions responded with three unanswered points and slowly completed the set win 25-20.
Set 3
The threat for a quick final frame seemed real as PLNU scampered to an 8-2 lead off the cuff. However, the Lions hauled the visitors back in with a 5-0 run that saw
Cadence Roberts net her first collegiate kill and Long toss down two. The Lions remained close over the next few rallies, but a 7-0 stretch from the Sea Lions ended the attack, with PLNU closing out the frame 25-15.
Hobbs had six kills and three aces to pace VU, with Robinson next with five kills.
Julia Ringenberg had seven digs and 11 assists to
Macy Kavanaugh's seven helpers. Hobbs tied
Emma Garrett with eight digs for the team-high. Credit is due to Kyra Miles, who posted 16 kills with no errors on the night for PLNU.
What's Next? The Blue and Gold play Biola on Saturday at 2:00 p.m.
