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Irvine, Calif. - A day that started on a sour note, with a narrow loss to CSU San Marcos, ended on a high note as the Sunbirds breezed past Menlo 3-0 to earn coach Kelly Winter her first career win as a head coach at the Concordia Labor Day Invitational.

The Sunbirds (1-3) recorded 12 blocks against Menlo and out-hit the Oaks .329 to .031 to win the match 25-10, 25-17, 25-17.

"We're getting a lot more confident playing together, communication on the court and energy was much improved," said Winter. "We're starting to trust each other."

Earlier in the day the team dropped a 3-1 decision to CSU San Marcos (25-22, 25-22, 18-25, 25-23) despite 21 kills and 14 digs from Jessie Alcorn.

Alcorn was locked in against Menlo as well, hitting .571 with just one error on 21 swings. She finished with 13 kills and eight digs, while Kathleen Anderson added nine kills and an incredible eight total blocks.

Martina Gregusova, still playing at libero due to an injured shoulder, totaled 32 digs over the two matches. Emily Carroll had 40 assists and 19 digs on the day, while Erica Adachi added 38 assists to go with 11 kills.

Freshman Lyndsie Petersen really stepped up as well on Friday, with seven kills and 16 digs in the first match.

The Sunbirds out-hit CSU San Marcos .250 to .205, but couldn't put it together at the right time. The Cougars, a first-year volleyball program, also hold upset wins against ranked Lewis-Clark State and Southern Oregon.

FPU continues the tournament tomorrow with an 11 am match against Westminster and a 3 pm showdown with Kansas Wesleyan. Westminster lost to Biola 3-0 and defeated San Diego Christian 3-1 today, while Kansas Wesleyan fell 3-0 to both Point Loma Nazarene and Vanguard.

Live stats are unavailable for the tournament so check FPU's Twitter for any updates.