Box Score

Belmont, Calif. - Fresno Pacific got a taste of NCAA competition on Wednesday night, facing Notre Dame de Namur, a member of the Pacific West Conference which FPU joins next year. One night after going five sets, the #6 Sunbirds got all they could handle once again, defeating NDNU 25-22, 22-25, 25-22, 21-25, 15-8.

Kathleen Anderson had 19 kills on .485 hitting, Martina Gregusova added 18 and Kailey Allen had a season-high 23 digs as the Sunbirds (9-3) won their ninth straight heading into Saturday's NAIA Match of the Week with #3 Concordia.

The Sunbirds showed some fatigue from the five-set match in L.A. last night, before heading up the Bay Area today. Winter intentionally scheduled this game however, noting playing back-to-back like this will help the team come tournament time.

"They dug deep down, played with everything they had left, and pulled this one off," said coach Kelly Winter. "At times they easily could have given up but they didn't, they kept fighting."

After trading points for the first four sets, the Sunbirds fell behind 6-3 in set five prompting Winter to call timeout. The team regrouped, and three kills by Gregusova and another from Amy Siemens would tie the score at seven. After an Argonauts kill, Gregusova would tie the game at eight, earning the right to serve.

She would serve the rest of the way as the Sunbirds effectively shut down the Argonauts attack and got a couple key kills from Jessie Alcorn to put it away.

Alcorn finished with 13 kills and 10 digs. Emily Carroll had 47 assists and 16 digs, while Lyndsie Petersen finished with 17 digs and 11 kills. FPU would hit .500 in the final set, while holding NDNU to negative .043.

The Argonauts relied almost exclusively on two outside hitters, Christian Villamayor and Jennifer Jasper who had 26 and 20 kills respectively. NDNU came in with a 1-14 record, but did not play that way.

"We're going to have to get better," said Winter, speaking of next year's move to the PacWest. "They're a good team and that shows how strong the conference is from top to bottom."

The Sunbirds now turn their full attention to #3 Concordia, who they'll host at 3 pm on Saturday. Both teams are undefeated in GSAC play.

"I think we match up pretty well with Concordia, but it's going to be a battle," said Winter. "They have a pretty balanced attack, we have a pretty balanced attack. I think it's anybody's game."

That game can be watched LIVE on FPU's new partnership with Stretch Internet.