Biola's Abigail Copeland is the new career blocks leader in the PacWest and is the Defender of the Week. Concordia's Kirra Schulz put down 34 balls in one outing for Player of the Week and Fresno Pacific steps up with two wins over teams above them in the standings to claim Team of the Week.

2023 Results/Schedule
2023 Standings
2023 Statistics
2023 AVCA National Poll
 
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Concordia's Kirra Schulz, OH, Sr., 5-9, San Clemente, Calif.    `                                    
Concordia's Kirra Schulz put up crazy numbers even by her standards during a 5-set loss to Azusa Pacific last Saturday night. The power-hitting senior outside hitter pounded down 34 balls, the third highest total in Pacific West Conference history, and the highest total since 2017. The SoCal native made efficient use of her swings as well, hitting .397 while also digging out 14 balls and zipping in two aces. Combined with an 18 kill-9 dig performance against Fresno Pacific earlier in the week, Schulz had 52 kills (5.78 per set) and 33 digs. For the season, her 4.01 kills per set leads the PacWest by a large margin.

DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Biola's Abigail Copeland, MB, Sr., 6-2, Olathe, Kansas                                               
Abigail Copeland had a big week and has had an even bigger career at the net for Biola. The 6-foot-2 middle blocker broke the PacWest career record for solo blocks, now sitting at 122 with a week of play yet to go. She passed a very old mark, set by Caitlin Torres of Notre Dame de Namur from 2006-09. Copeland had 22 total blocks for the week in Biola's three matches, including nine solo blocks. The Kansas native had four solos in a five-set win over Westmont, added seven total blocks in the upset win over Point Loma and broke the solo block record with four on Saturday against Fresno Pacific. On the season, the fifth-year Eagle leads the PacWest with 39 solo blocks and is second in blocks per set with 1.22.
 
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Fresno Pacific Sunbirds                                                                                                                                                            
The PacWest Team of the Week is Fresno Pacific, who picked up two upset wins over teams above them in the PacWest standings. The big week started last Wednesday when the Sunbirds stunned a 9-6 Concordia team in four sets, using a balanced attack paced by Corinne Acosta's 13 kills and 10 digs. Makena Ogas had four solo blocks and ten kills for the Sunbirds. Three nights later, FPU had a bigger stunner in clipping Biola, who was 12-5 coming into the match and had just dealt Point Loma its only PacWest loss of the season. The Sunbirds topped the Eagles in four sets behind Ogas' 16 kills, Acosta's 21 digs and six total blocks from Madison Girnius. FPU improved to 8-11 in conference play and gave new coach Shauna Felix, who took over the program in mid-season, the two biggest wins of her Sunbird career. 

PACWEST PROGNOSIS FOR POINT LOMA: With just two matches left for the Sea Lions, Point Loma has clinched at least a share of their first PacWest title and they have snared the Automatic Qualifier for the NCAA tournament. PLNU is 17-1, with second place Chaminade at 16-3. Two Sea Lion losses and a Chaminade win would draw them into a tie, but Point Loma's two wins over the Silverswords this year would give them the AQ. Chaminade closes with Hawai`i Hilo on Friday, while Point Loma plays at Azusa Pacific on Thursday and hosts Concordia on Saturday. 

CHAMINADE CLAIMS TOP REGIONAL STANDING: In last week's first official NCAA West Region Ranking, Chaminade was the team on top of the heap. The Silverswords list No. 1, currently with a sizzling 27-3 record. Point Loma is No. 3, with both teams now all but guaranteed a post season berth. CS San Bernardino is No. 2 and Seattle Pacific is fourth, but no other PacWest teams were listed in the top 10. 

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Dominican picked up its first win of the season in a five-set thriller over Hawai`i Pacific. Camille Rivers had 19 kills for the Penguins, who had dropped 25 straight matches dating back to 2022...Biola had a big, big week, albeit a topsy turvy one. The Eagles outlasted Westmont in five sets to kick off the week and then pulled off the biggest win of their season with a four-set topping of previously unbeaten Point Loma. They then were an upset victum of Fresno Pacific to finish the week 2-1...Azusa Pacific went 2-0 on the week with a sweep of Westmont and a five-set marathon victory over Concordia. The Cougars rallied back from a 2-1 deficit against the Golden Eagles to improve to 14-4 in conference play...Chaminade swept Domincan and Academy of Art to move to 16-3. Hula Cristostomo averaged 6.3 digs per set in the two matches...Hawai`i Hilo had wins over the same pair to move to .500 at 9-9...Point Loma bounced back from the loss to Biola to race past Westmont, 3-1. Abigail Nua had 17 kills and 13 digs in the win.

RECORD BOOK WATCH: Biola's Abigail Copeland has 434 total blocks, second all-time, with Azusa Pacific's Julianne Miller (2016-19) on top with 465. As mentioned above, she is now the all-time solo block leader with 122...Azusa Pacific's Annaka Jorgenson has 1,524 career kills (2019-23), sixth on the PacWest career list, with former Point Loma standout Heather Levitt next at 1,534 (2012-15)...Fresno Pacific's Corinne Acosta has 1,298 kills, 9th on the same list...Acosta has 1,582 digs, 11th all-time in the PacWest...Hawai`i Hilo's Tani Hoke is just behind Acosta with 1,566 digs, 12th on the list...Makena Ogas of the Sunbirds has 73 solo blocks, ninth all-time in the conference...Kirra Schulz has 1,118 kills, moving into the 19th slot all-time.