Five teams begin PacWest play at 2-0, three of them doing so while on the road. Academy of Art won two matches in Hawai`i, while Fresno Pacific went the distance with a pair of 5-set wins, thanks to Player of the Week Mia Gilcrest's strong play. Point Loma needed just seven sets to remain unbeaten, and Anna Massari's defense played a big part. 

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PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Fresno Pacific's Mia Gilcrest, OH, Sr., 6-0, Visalia, Calif.                                                    
Fresno Pacific deserved rest on Sunday after a pair of five-set road wins at Concordia and Biola. Mia Gilcrest was a machine in the comeback win over the Golden Eagles, putting down 25 balls while hitting at a .411 clip. She added ten digs on defense, and coupled with a 13K-11D outing against Biola the second-year Sunbird had 38 kills and 21 digs on the week. Gilcrest had just two attack errors against Concordia while notching a career-high 25 kills, which is also the top kill total in the PacWest this year.

DEFENDER OF THE WEEK: Point Loma's Anna Massari, MB, Sr., 6-2, Las Vegas, Nev.                                            
Point Loma's Anna Massari had nine blocks in seven sets of action last week as the Sea Lions took out Westmont and Concordia on the road. She split the totals close to even with four at Concordia and five against Westmont (including a solo block). She added 12 kills against the Warriors from her middle blocker position and had 20 kills for the week. This is the fourth career PacWest weekly award for Massari, who has 348 total blocks in her four-plus year career. The Vegas native was a First Team All-PacWest and All-West Region selection last fall.
 
TEAM OF THE WEEK: Point Loma Sea Lions                                                                                                                    
The PacWest Team of the Week is Point Loma, who took the first step in defending their 2023 conference title with solid road wins over Concordia (3-0) and Westmont (3-1). The Sea Lions made pretty quick work of the Golden Eagles (25-16, 25-20, 25-19), with Abigail Nua putting down 17 balls with 12 digs. Anna Massari had eight kills without an error and added four block assists. Against Westmont, Nua had another double-double with 15 kills and 10 digs, while Saren Rogers added 15 kills with a efficient .367 hitting percentage. The Sea Lions are now 8-0 overall, heading into home matches this week with Concordia and Fresno Pacific.

PACWEST NEWS AND NOTES: Academy of Art is on the list of teams starting 2-0, beating Hawai`i Pacific in straight sets and beating Hawai`i Hilo is marathon 5-setter. Against the Vulcans, the Urban Knights rallied back from a 2-0 deficit for the 17-25, 20-25, 27-25, 25-21, 15-12 comebacker. ART U had 13 service aces, Kerrigan Habling had 18 kills and LC-Reese Nakagawa had 23 digs...Chaminade went 2-0 at home, sweeping Menlo and Dominican to improve to 9-3 overall. Against the Oaks, the 'Swords hit .360 and survived a good push from the visitors in the 26-24, 25-10, 25-23 match...Azusa Pacific is the fifth PacWest team to start out conference play 2-0, topping Jessup and Vanguard. Mia Medrano led the defense with 36 digs in seven sets, including 27 against Vanguard...Vanguard's Blair Dodge led the conference with 49 total digs last week...Bri Bellfi totaled 40 digs for Biola...Fresno Pacific's Geneva Elliott totaled 11 blocks in ten sets for the Sunbirds...Dominican outlasted Hawai`i Pacific at the Shark Tank, going five sets to give first-year head coach Tim Loesch his first conference victory. Regan Macha had 24 kills and Rein Bocage had 28 digs for the visitors. The Penguins rallied back from a 2-1 deficit, winning the fourth game 28-26. Marley Sandoval led HPU with 23 kills and Brynne Hopeau-Lampitoc had 26 digs for the Sharks...Simi Kapustova had six aces for Biola in their three-set win over Vanguard...Faith Oller had 16 kills in Hawaii Hilo's 3-set win over Menlo, while Tani Hoke had five service aces in the Vulcans' loss to Academy of Art...Concordia's Kayden Croy had a double-double of 10 kills and a career-high 16 digs in 5-point loss to FPU on Saturday.

THIS WEEK IN THE PACWEST: Week two of conference plays begins on Tuesday when Azusa Pacific travels to Westmont. On Wednesday, Jessup is at Menlo. Thursday's full slate features Academy of Art at Dominican, Fresno Pacific at Jessup, Biola at Azusa Pacific, Concordia at Point Loma and Vanguard at Westmont. Saturday's slate involves Point Loma at Fresno Pacific, Westmont at Biola and Azusa Pacific at Concordia. Sunday wraps up the week with Chaminade at Academy of Art, Hawaii Pacific at Menlo and Hawaii Hilo at Dominican.