SAN DIEGO—It must seem like the Twilight Zone over and over again for Point Loma head coach Jonathan Scott.

For the third straight match, with much on the line, the Sea Lions went a marathon five sets and then some to defeat CSU San Bernardino in the quarterfinals of the NCAA West Region Volleyball tournament. Point Loma outlasted the Coyotes, 20-25, 25-15, 25-15, 19-25, 21-19 to advance to Friday’s 7 pm semifinals against the winner of tonight’s match between Alaska and Alaska Anchorage.

In the past three weeks, Point Loma has gone five sets with Fresno Pacific twice, and now again in front of 634 fans in Golden Gymnasium. Tonight’s match took two hours and 40 minutes.

“We scheduled tough this season, to be ready for situations like this,” Scott said after the match. “It’s an environment that we prep for, but it is still stressful.”

One thing that was different this time around was that Scott and the Sea Lions finally had the services of two-time PacWest Player of the Year, Abigail Nua. The All-American had missed the last eight matches with an injury.

“Whether I am playing or not, it is amazing to be a part of this program,” Nua said. “But it was great to be out there tonight.”

Everyone involved with the Sea Lions would agree. The senior pounded down 24 kills, including nine in the extra-time fifth set without an attack error. She hit .310 in the match.

The Sea Lions needed Nua to step up at just the right time. Point Loma lost the first set 25-20, but rallied to take sets two and three by the same scores of 25-15. But the Coyotes, winners of the CCAA conference tournament, led from nearly start to finish in the fourth to send it to a fifth set, 25-19.

In the fifth, the No. 1 seed Sea Lions jumped out to an 8-3 lead on a Nua kill, but then CSUSB rallied back. They scored eight of the next ten points to tie it at 11-11. The two teams traded points from there to the finish line, racing past the 15-point mark to make for a tense shot-by-shot finale.

Point Loma had five match points, and the Coyotes had one before Nua’s final shot ended the match at 21-19.

“San Bernardino is well coached (Kim Cherniss) and they are one of the better blocking teams in the country,” Scott added. “That was a great match to be a part of.”

Nua finished with 24 kills but she had plenty of help. Sophia Baugh had 56 assists, Saren Rogers had 17 kills, while Jill Leslie and Kyra Miles had 10 each. Baugh and Macy Reynolds had 24 digs each for Point Loma, who is now 25-4.

CSU San Bernardino, who had won nine straight matches coming into the regional tournament, wraps up 2025 at 22-6. The Coyotes were led by Kacie Pedersen’s 19 kills and Jayden Chornomud’s 31 digs.