ELLENSBURG, Wash. - Fresno Pacific concluded the PacWest/GNAC Challenge on Saturday, falling in straight sets to defending GNAC champion Northwest Nazarene. The Sunbirds struggled to find a rhythm offensively, hitting just .009 as a team compared to .398 for NNU.

"This tournament was a good growing experience for us and I'm proud of the way our team continually battled against some extremely competitive teams," said head coach Matt Terra. "Our young players were able to get a lot of valuable experience and we were able to see the level of play of the top teams in the region. We have a committed and talented group of student-athletes and we're eager to get to work this coming week and continue to grow together as we head into conference play."

As a whole, the PacWest struggled against the GNAC's best, with a combined record of 2-14 at the tournament. Dixie State defeated NNU 3-1 and #20 Point Loma defeated NNU 3-0 as each went 1-3 on the weekend. The PacWest's other top team, #21 BYU Hawaii, went 0-4.

Gabriela Macedo had six kills to lead the Sunbirds. Hannah Butler had 10 digs and Bissie DenHartog finished with 14 assists.

Taylor VanValey had 11 kills to lead the Crusaders (3-4) while Madi Farrell was near automatic with nine kills and a .818 attack percentage.

The Sunbirds return for home for the PacWest opener next Saturday against Dominican at 3 pm.