In 2024, Chaminade won the Pacific West Conference regular season title with a perfect 20-0 record. Point Loma finished just one game back at 19-1, with their only conference loss coming at the hands of the Silverswords.

That's about as close as you can get, and the coaches predicted it before the season even started. In August of 2024, the leagues volleyball leaders put the two teams in a virtual tie for first in the preseason vote. 

This year, the 13 PacWest coaches put the Sea Lions at No. 1 with 163 poll points and eight first-place votes overall. Chaminade is next with 158 points and four first place marks. Concordia (126 points), Hawai`i Hilo (113) and Fresno Pacific (112) round out the top five. 

Point Loma won its first 22 matches of 2024 before falling to Chaminade in four sets on November 15. They would become the first team to go 19-1 and NOT win the conference title. They would advance to the NCAA West Region tournament, topping Central Washington before falling to Cal Poly Pomona in the championship semifinals. 

One of the cornerstones of that team, Abigail Nua, returns for her senior season. Nua was named the PacWest Player of the Year and was a First Team AVCA All-American. She led the conference in kills per game (4.15) and points (4.77), pacing both categories by a large margin. The Sea Lions also return PacWest First Team setter Sophia Baugh and co-Freshman of the Year Saren Rogers. Head coach Jonathan Scott lost three players to graduation, but helped restock the shelves with grad senior Jill Leslie, a middle blocker from Oklahoma Baptist, who was a three-time All-Great American Conference pick and D2 honorable mention All-American. 

Chaminade was just the second team in PacWest history to go 20-0 to win the conference unblemished (California Baptist in 2017 is the other). They dropped just 16 total sets in those 20 matches. They beat the Sea Lions on the road to clinch the title and then topped Stanislaus State in the NCAA tournament before falling to San Francisco State, who would go on to reach the NCAA title match. 

But the Silverswords and head coach Kahala Kabalis Hoke lost ten players from that championship squad including PacWest Setter of the Year Grace Talpash and Newcomer of the Year Anna Stucchi. Outside hitter Malena Mihalik is the lone returning starter, although Kabalis Hoke does return eight players overall. Division I transfers Audrah Johnson (Utah State) and Alizaysha Sopi (Tennessee State) will help bolster the line-up. 

The coaches chose Concordia as next in line. The Golden Eagles were 16-12 and 11-9 in conference play in 2024 under then first-year coach Eryn Leja-Martin. CUI returns four starters, including Kayden Croy, who won First Team All-PacWest honors as a sophomore, and middle blocker Catlin Jarrell, a Second Team selection. Leja-Martin has nine returnees back and also can look to Division I transfers Nevada Knowles (UC San Diego) and Emma Wegleitner (Grand Canyon). Knowles was the starting setter for the Tritons in 2023. 

There was just one poll point separating the next two schools. Hawai`i Hilo landed in the fourth spot with 113 poll points. The Vulcans tied for fourth place last year with a 11-9 conference record, and return ten players and four starters from that roster. Hilo native and first-year head coach Reed Sunahara brings 24 years of head coaching experience to the Big Island, most recently at West Virginia and Cincinnati where he led those teams to six conference titles and was named Coach of the Year three times. 

Fresno Pacific was just one poll point back of Hilo (112 points). The Sunbirds made a big splash in 2024 under first-year head coach Kelsee Montagna, finishing in third place with a 13-7 PacWest mark, and they were 18-10 overall. Montagna has three starters back and seven returnees overall, including First Team All-PacWest setter Cambria Waites and conference co-Freshman of the Year Makayla Smith. FPU won seven of its last eight matches last Fall, with the lone loss coming to conference champ Chaminade in five sets. 

Biola slides into the sixth spot (97 points) behind second-year coach Brian Failinger. The Eagles landed in tenth in the 2024 PacWest standings but return all six starters and 16 players overall. That veteran list includes four-year starter Bri Bellfi. Right behind the Eagles is rival Azusa Pacific with 94 poll points. The Cougars, who received three third-place votes, return the PacWest Libero of the Year in Mia Medrano. Head coach Chris Keife, in his 22nd season, has 10 returnees from a team that tied for fourth place last year, and has Sonoma State transfer Jackie Winfield who was a CCAA honorable mention honoree. 

One poll point separates the next two teams in the preseason list. Vanguard is eighth (78 points), just one digit ahead of fellow PacWest newcomer Jessup (77). Lions head coach JP Dorn has Second Team All-PacWest pick Adeline Galvanoni (RS) to lead the way, along with 12 total returnees. Vanguard finished 10-10 in their inaugral PacWest season. Jessup tied for fourth with a 11-9 mark in their first official year of Division II. Head coach Kyle Steele returns two starters and has three returnees overall from that team. 

Westmont is next in slot ten with 64 points. In 2024, the Warriors overcame a 1-4 conference start to finish 9-11 in the PacWest which included victories over third-place Fresno Pacific and fourth-place Hawaii Hilo. Head coach Ruth McGolpin has 11 returnees and four starters back this Fall. Menlo follows with 38 poll points, leaning on seven returnees and four starters that are back for second year head coach Leslie Akeo.

Rounding out the final two spots in the preseason poll are Dominican and Hawai`i Pacific. The Penguins return 12 players and three starters but second-year head coach Tim Loesch will have to find a way to replace two all-conference players that graduated, Rein Bocage and Reagan Macha. HPU head coach Jenic Tumaneng returns 14 players and three starters to his Shark squad. 

Action begins this week, at least for the Hawai`i schools who will be in Alaska to take on the Seawolves and Nanooks. The first PacWest matches begin on September 17, with the regular season capped on Nov. 20-21 with the first PacWest Championships, hosted by Chaminade at McCabe Gymnasium in Honolulu. To see the full 2025 schedule of games, click here.