A defender who helped her team to three victories, a setter who put up numbers all across the stat sheet and a team that pulled off the biggest upset of the young season highlighted the first conference volleyball weekend in the Pacific West Conference.

Biola’s Abby Brewster is PacWest Player of the Week, Concordia libero Julia Wilson is the Defender of the Week and Fresno Pacific takes home the Team of the Week honors after a 2-0 start which includes an upset of Biola.

2022 Results/Schedule
2022 Standings
2022 Statistics
2022 AVCA National Poll
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Biola’s Abby Brewster, S, 5-11, Sr., Lee’s Summit, Mo.
Eagle senior setter Abby Brewster filled up stat sheets when Biola knocked off rival Azusa Pacific and then were upset by Fresno Pacific. The fourth-year standout had 51 assists, five service aces, 11 digs and two block assists in the 3-2 Cornerstone Cup win over the Cougars. Against the Sunbirds the Missouri native had 48 assists, an ace, 13 digs and a block assist—giving her 99 assists for the weekend, 24 digs and six aces. On the season, Brewster averages 9.30 assists per set, second best in the PacWest.

DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Concordia’s Julia Wilson, DS, 5-5, Jr., San Clemente, Calif.
Golden Eagle defensive stopper Julia Wilson had 53 digs in three Concordia victories to help her team jump out to 3-0 in conference play. She had a season-high 31 digs in a five-set victory over Academy of Art, and had 11 digs in a three-set win over Holy Names. For the week the third-year Golden Eagle had 50 total digs and on the season she averages 3.97 per set (fifth in the PacWest).
 
SUNBIRDS SECURE TEAM OF THE WEEK NOD: The PacWest Team of the Week is Fresno Pacific, who took out Biola in four sets at home and also swept Holy Names in three. The Sunbirds, picked to finish ninth in the preseason coaches poll, stunned the Eagles, who were picked to finish third, beating Biola for the first time as a member of the PacWest. It was also FPU’s first win over the Eagles since the 2011 season. The Sunbirds dropped the first set but rallied back in all three deciding sets to pull off the upset. Corinne Acosta totaled 25 kills for the pair of wins, hitting over .300 in each. Makena Ogas had 23 digs in the three-set victory versus Holy Names. The Sunbirds are now 3-3 overall and 2-0 in the PacWest.

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Concordia has a 3-0 start to begin PacWest play, while Fresno Pacific, Chaminade and Point Loma all start at 2-0. Chaminade and Concordia have now won four matches in a row, while the Sunbirds and Sea Lions have taken three straight…Point Loma’s Courtney Dyer moved up to fifth all-time on the PacWest service ace career list with 136, with four each in wins over Dominican and Academy of Art. This weekend, she passed Marissa Miller (Notre Dame de Namur), who had 134. Dyer also had 35 total digs in two matches leads the conference by a wide margin with 5.26 per set…Concordia’s Halli Hooks continues to be a force at the net, totaling 16 blocks in the Golden Eagles’ three victories. She leads the PacWest with 1.50 blocks per set…Academy of Art’s Isaura Santos had a season-high 39 digs and six aces in the Urban Knight’s five-set loss to Concordia. ART’s Maya McClellan had 23 kills in the same match…Chaminade spread the wealth across the board in a pair of wins over island rivals Hawaii Pacific and Hawaii Hilo. Silversword setter Alexia Byrnes led the way with (in six sets) 68 assists, 13 digs, five kills, six aces, and four total blocks…Concordia’s Kirra Schulz had a PacWest best 27 kills in CUI’s five-set win over Academy of Art...Azusa Pacific and Point Loma are "among others receiving votes" in the latest AVCA national poll. Biola also received votes with seven points (see link at top of page).

LOOKING AHEAD: Azusa Pacific plays the lone non-conference match today (Tuesday), making the short trip to Cal Poly Pomona…2-0 Fresno Pacific heads to the islands and matches up with Chaminade (2-0) on Saturday…On paper, the match of the week is Saturday’s Point Loma (2-0) at Concordia (3-0) face off.