Sea Lions Roar Past Toros as CSUDH Volleyball Suffers Sweep at Hands of Point Loma Nazarene University

Carson, CA – Lauren Wells' 13 kills and 11 digs led a valiant Toros effort against one of the NAIA's best teams in No. 7 Point Loma Nazarene University, but the Sea Lions displayed too much offense down the stretch for the Toros to keep up with as PLNU completed the sweep, 30-27, 31-29, 30-23. With the loss CSUDH falls to 1-13, and PLNU improves to 8-4 on the season.

The Toros began the match against the nationally-ranked Sea Lions ready for the challenge and built a 15-12 on a kill from Wells off a dish from senior setter Kayleigh Spratt.

PLNU battled back and knotted the game at 18-18 after back-to-back kills from Natalie Acklin and Zoe Beltz.

The Toros tried to pulled away with a 24-20 lead after a Sea Lion ball handling error, but PLNU chipped away at the deficit and tied the game at 25-25 after a pair of Toro attacking errors, riding that momentum to finish off CSUDH in game one.

The ball seemed to be falling the Toros' way in game two as CSUDH built a 29-23 lead on a kill from Wells.

However, the Toros' momentum came to a screeching halt as the Sea Lions mounted a fierce comeback by scoring the next eight points to snatch the victory from the Toros and take game two 31-29.

A dejected Toro squad came out after the intermission and fell behind early for the first time in the match at 15-10, with PLNU's lead growing to 20-13 on a CSUDH hitting error.

Down 27-20, the Toros attempted to match the Sea Lion flurry at the end of game two, and after a kill from Sophia Lopes, a PLNU attacking error and an ace by Tiffany Bull that cut the lead to 27-23, PLNU's Christy Dueck pounded a kill to stop the run and lead the Sea Lions to the win.

PLNU was led by Melissa Boer's double-double of 13 kills and 23 digs, while Jill Konderik chipped in 12 digs.

In addition to Wells' double-double, Lopes chipped in 12 kills while the back row duo of Jenise Espindola and Melissa Velasco added 18 and 14 digs, respectively.

The Toros resume conference play this weekend by hosting Cal State Stanislaus on Friday, and No. 20 Chico State on Saturday, with first serve for both matches scheduled for 7:00 pm in the Torodome.

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