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Michelle Johnson led the Sunbirds' defense with seven blocks in their win over Point Loma.

Women's Volleyball Written by Patrick Ota

Volleyball clinches national quarterfinal

Sunbirds sweep Point Loma to guarantee spot in quarters

SIOUX CITY, Ia. – Fresno Pacific (34-0) will be moving on to the quarterfinals of the NAIA Tournament after Wednesday's win over Point Loma Nazarene (21-12) in straight sets, 25-22, 25-12 and 25-21.

“The whole team played exceptionally well tonight.  The second set was the best set we've played all year,” Fresno Pacific coach Dennis Janzen said.

The Sunbirds held Point Loma to a .000 hitting percentage in the second set while hitting an impressive .429 with 15 kills and only 3 errors in the second set. They hit .291 for the match.

“We played outstanding defense,” Janzen said.

Janzen pointed out that Keke Wang and Michelle Johnson did a great job shutting down Point Loma's top two hitters.  Johnson led the Sunbirds with seven blocks while Lauren Albertson had six blocks coming back from a hip injury.  The Sunbirds finished up with 10.5 team blocks to Point Loma's 4.

Defensively, the Sunbirds had three players with double-digit digs.  Mariah Mandelbaum led with 17 while Tiffany Marinos and Martina Gregusova had 15 and 14, respectively.

Gregusova led the Sunbirds in kills with 13 followed by a strong performance from Johnson with 11 kills. 

The Sunbirds will finish pool play against Olivet Nazarene at 1:15 p.m. (PST) Thursday (Dec. 3). A win would guarantee the No. 1 seed in the quarterfinals.  
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