SAN DIEGO—Point Loma’s Abigail Nua powered down nine kills in the deciding fourth set to help push the host Sea Lions to the NCAA West Region Championship over Fresno Pacific on Saturday night at Golden Gym.

The Sea Lions won the fourth match between the two powerhouses this year, 25-17, 17-25, 25-16, 25-19. That sends Point Loma to the NCAA Championships and the Elite Eight, for the first time in school history. PLNU will travel to Sioux Falls, South Dakota next week (Dec. 11-13) to play for a national title.

Point Loma will go to Sioux Falls with a 27-4 record overall and a 2-2 mark on the season against the Sunbirds.

Tonight’s match marked the third time in three weeks that the Sunbirds and Sea Lions had squared off. Point Loma won in five sets in mid-November to claim a share of the PacWest regular season title. FPU won on Nov. 21 in Honolulu in another epic 5-setter for the PacWest tournament title. This time, the NCAA West Region trophy was at stake.

One thing was different tonight than in those two matches—PLNU finally had the services of two-time PacWest Player of the Year Nua, who missed eight matches prior to the regional tournament. And while Nua was somewhat quiet in the first three sets with just four kills, she stepped up big when it mattered the most.

Nua put down nine balls in the fourth, including a tip over the top of the defense for match point. She ended up with just 13 kills, but the majority of them came in the fourth when the Sea Lions pulled away.

Haley Clark had 14 kills and Kyra Miles had 13 for the Sea Lions. Sophia Baugh had 50 assists and 15 digs for PLNU and Macy Reynolds had 19 digs.

Fresno Pacific, who wrapped the best season in school history at the NCAA level, were led by Devyn Castaneda’s 25 digs and Makayla Smith’s 10 kills.

The Sunbirds were an astounding 27-2 on the year.

Point Loma will find out in the next 48 hours who they will play next Thursday, and the eight qualifying teams from across the country will be reseeded.