POINT LOMA, Calif. - The Southern Nazarene University volleyball team headed west for the weekend knowing their opponents at the Point Loma Nazarene University Seaside Classic would be formidable, but also knowing that playing well would give them opportunities to find victories. That proved to be the case on Saturday.

SNU (3-1) took a five set win over Cal State University-East Bay (0-3) to open their second day of the season, and they followed that up with an impressive straight sets win over the host PLNU Sea Lions (2-1). Their 3-1 weekend was the best record any team posted in the event.

Saturday started with a hard-fought match against CSU-East Bay. The Crimson Storm set the tone early in the match, dominating set one statistically. SNU out-hit CSU-EB .333-.158 in the opening frame, with the team posting 15 kills in the set to just six for the Pioneers. The Crimson Storm rode that statistical edge to a 25-21 win in the set, but they struggled to get in an offensive rhythm in the second and third sets, and the Pioneers took both frames to claim a 2-1 lead in the match and push SNU to the brink of defeat.

SNU jumped on top early in the fourth set, taking a 6-2 lead thanks to a pair of kills from Bailey Grimes and aces from Bailee Turang and Haven Rodgers. East Bay rallied to tie the score at 7-7 before SNU ran off four straight points to reclaim the lead. The set remained close into the middle stages, when with SNU leading 14-12, the Crimson Storm scored five straight points to take command on their way to forcing a fifth set with a 25-19 set victory.

In the decisive fifth set, SNU took an early lead, and while they were unable to get a much separation early, three straight kills for SNU gave the Crimson Storm an 8-5 lead at the change of sides. East Bay put together one last gasp to tie the score at 8-8, but SNU put the match away with a 7-1 run to take the set 15-9 and the match 3-2.

Grimes, Kayla Thomas, and Sunny Batschelett tied for the team lead with 11 kills in the match, and Turang added nine as SNU notched 56 kills as a team. Kylie Smith dished out 46 assists, and Logan Matthews (18), Turang (12), and Meagan Ellis (10) each reached double figures in digs.

SNU rode the momentum from the comeback win to a strong performance against the host Sea Lions of PLNU. 

The Crimson Storm fell into an early 6-4 hole, but battled back to take the lead for good in the opening set with a 5-0 run late to take a 21-18 lead on their way to a 25-21 set win. The second set was similar in that PLNU took an early lead, but SNU again rallied. This time, SNU grabbed the lead for good at 17-16 and closing the set on a 9-3 run to take the win 25-19. The third set was all SNU. The Crimson Storm opened the stanza on an 8-1 run, and quickly stretched their lead to 11 points at 16-5. SNU held a double-digit lead for the remainder of the match, closing out the set with a 25-14 win to complete the sweep.

Turang was the only SNU player in double figures, as she belted 10 kills in the match. Smith picked up a double-double with 28 assists and 12 digs, and Ellis (15) and Madeline Lynch (10) posted double figures in digs.

SNU will be back in action next weekend when they head to Durant, Oklahoma to take part in the Southeastern Classic at Southeastern Oklahoma State University. The weekend will begin with a match against the University of Texas at Tyler (1-2) on Friday, September 13 at 1 p.m.