HONOLULU.—No. 2 seed Fresno Pacific survived a second set scare to ultimately post a 3-1 win over No. 3 seed Chaminade in the second semifinal of the Pacific West Conference Volleyball Championship on Thursday night at McCabe Gymnasium.

The Sunbirds advance to Friday’s 6 pm championship against No. 1 seed Point Loma after topping the Silverswords 25-14, 23-25, 25-21, 25-12.

FPU improved to 24-1 on the season while Chaminade’s campaign finishes at 16-14.

The Sunbirds, who began the season with 23 straight wins before falling last Saturday to Point Loma, burst out of the gates in the first set. They hit .500 and did not have an attack error in rolling to the 25-14 win.

But the second set played out much different. Playing in front of an energized home crowd, the Silverswords built an early lead and held it late at 19-14. But the Sunbirds rallied back to tie the contest at 23-23 before the home team scored the final two points to take the set, 25-23. CUH hit .355 in the set.

The third set was also very close, with FPU holding a narrow margin almost the entire way before closing out at 25-21. The Sunbirds, ranked No. 4 in the NCAA West Region, then closed out the match emphatically with a 25-12 fourth set, again without a hitting error.

Madelyn Feramisco and Cambria Waites led the balanced Sunbird attack with 12 kills each.

It not only was a good bounce back win after last Saturday’s 5-set loss to Point Loma, it vaulted the Sunbirds into the conference title match against the Sea Lions.

“We played great tonight,” said FPU head coach Kelsee Montagna. “We did extremely well at times, and also reset when we had lapses.”

For Chaminade, with a nearly completely new squad from the 2024 championship team, they gained experience in the playoff environment.

“This doesn’t feel good, but we had some good moments where we looked like ourselves,” said Chaminade head coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke. “We have ten new players from a year ago and sometimes have four freshmen in the rotation. With that will come some inconsistency and errors. But this was a good experience for us to build on.”

Friday’s title match will be the rubber match between the Sea Lions and Sunbirds. FPU won a non-conference match between the two in Fresno, and Point Loma won last Saturday in San Diego.

“Point Loma is a great team,” Montagna added. “But we are playing at our best right now. It is gonna be a war.”