IRVINE, Calif. -- For the second week in a row, Azusa Pacific and Point Loma each added two more wins to their conference records, while Biola won one as all three teams remained undefeated in conference play so far this season.
Point Loma and Azusa Pacific each defeated Dominican and Holy Names to extend their winning streaks and improve to 4-0 for a tie for first place in the conference. Biola earned a four-set win against then-undefeated Concordia on Saturday to become the third PacWest team with multiple conference wins this year.
Biola got 14 kills apiece from
Raegan Tjepkema and
Madison Beebe. Along with
Abby Brewster and
Vanessa Garcia, the quartet of Eagles had a .352 hitting percentage in the match, and Garcia tallied 35 assists.
Academy of Art won its first PacWest match of the year, beating Fresno Pacific in three sets with
Elena Torres posting 31 digs in the match. It is the most digs in a 3-set match in the PacWest since 2015.
This week, Chaminade, Hawai`i Hilo and Hawai`i Pacific will both make trips to the Bay Area and Fresno for a busy four-match trip. On Wednesday, Biola will travel to Point Loma in a battle of undefeated PacWest teams. Azusa Pacific will host Concordia at the same time. Then on Friday, Azusa Pacific will play at Biola and Concordia will host Point Loma on Saturday. In total there are 16 matches scheduled for this week with each of the Hawai`i schools playing four matches in the Bay Area and Fresno, plus four matches among the schools in Southern California.
Weekly awards for the week of Sept. 20-26
PLAYER OF THE WEEK
Torina Hommes, Point Loma
OH, So., 6-0 -- Lynden, Washington
Hommes helped the Sea Lions extend their winning streak to seven matches with wins over Dominican and Holy Names last week, only dropping one set in the process. Hommes recorded 19 kills with a .425 hitting percentage against Holy Names in a four-set win. It was the 11th most kills in a single match so far this year. She added four blocks, three digs and an assist in the process as the Sea Lions remained in a tie for first place in the PacWest. The sophomore also had seven kills against Dominican and two blocks in that match. Over the last four matches, she has recorded 61 kills and 14 blocks for the Sea Lions. On the season, Hommes has 139 kills and a .228 attack percentage as she leads Point Loma in both kills and points. Point Loma now has an 8-4 record on the season.
DEFENDER OF THE WEEK
Elena Torres, Academy of Art
DS, Fr., 5-9 -- Santa Ana, Calif.
Torres had a historic performance for the Urban Knights on Wednesday, leading Academy of Art to a 3-0 win over Fresno Pacific. The freshman tallied 31 digs in three sets, setting a new career high for digs in a match. It is also the third-most digs in a three-set match in PacWest history and the second most since 2015. Her 31 digs are also tied for the second most digs in the PacWest in over a decade. Torres also had five assists in the match, which equaled her season high as the Urban Knights picked up their fourth win of the season. Torres has recorded at least 10 digs in all 11 matches so far this year and now has a total of 159 digs. This was the second-consecutive match in which Torres had posted a new career-best in digs after recording 23 against Point Loma. Academy of Art also set a team record for most digs in a three-set match with 84. It was the team’s first three-set win of the season.