Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

HONOLULU - Fresno Pacific rebounded nicely from a draining five-set loss to Seattle Pacific by putting together a dominant performance in a 3-0 sweep of fellow PacWest member Chaminade at the Outrigger Hotels and Resorts Invitational on Saturday.

The Sunbirds (2-1) made some lineup changes after surrendering a 2-0 lead to SPU earlier in the day, a match that saw the team hit just .095 and make 33 attack errors. The team came out determined and made a statement with an opening set 25-9 win where they hit .500 as a team.

Freshman Mikayla Tucker got her first collegiate start and responded by giving the team a much-needed offensive spark, hitting .393 and leading the Sunbirds with 15 kills and four service aces.

Rupia Inck added 13 kills, hitting .355, while Kathleen Anderson added five blocks and a .500 attack percentage.

"We were very efficient tonight," said head coach Kelly Winter. "We really won the serve and pass game. It was the best we've passed all weekend and that kept us in system."

Erica Adachi put together her best match of the weekend, leading the team with 20 assists and tallying six digs and five blocks.

"Having Rupia and Erica on the court really kept the energy level up," said Winter. "Hannah Butler did a great job of energizing us as well."

Butler led the team with 14 digs. Emily Carroll added 12 assists in the win. Amy Siemens also provided a spark for the Sunbirds, finishing with four blocks.

Earlier in the day the Sunbirds battled one of the top teams in the tournament, Seattle Pacific. The Falcons, along with the Sunbirds, are receiving votes in the AVCA Division II rankings.

Though FPU jumped out to a 2-0 lead but couldn't sustain it due to some errant hitting. For the second straight match, Anderson was the only player to hit above .250, totaling 10 kills on .296 hitting. The rest of the team was at or below the zero mark. Yesterday's 30 errors were the most  by an FPU team since 2008 and today's total surpassed that.

"We were competing well in the first two sets and really serving well," said Winter. "In the last three sets we backed off on our serving, ran out of gas and lost our focus."

The Sunbirds struggled in the fourth set especially, hitting in the negative (-.133) for the set as momentum began to build for the Falcons entering the fifth and decisive set. 

With the Sunbirds down 11-7 in the final, the team looked to make a run following two consecutive points from a combined block from Inck and Anderson, as well as a kill from Anderson bringing the score within two. However, following the theme of the night for the Sunbirds two attack errors in the final four points allowed SPU to pull out the final set 15-10 for the victory.

Butler recorded 22 digs in the loss while Karah Mitchell and Kailey Allen added 15 apiece. Anderson had a huge blocking game, finishing with 10 total blocks. Seattle Pacific was led by Jessica Miller (19 kills) and Madi Cavel (13 kills).

The Sunbirds conclude the tournament tomorrow, taking on Hawaii Pacific on its home court. The Sea Warriors upset #24 Sonoma State earlier in the tournament.