LONG BEACH, Calif. - After a thrilling weekend down in SoCal, Devyn Castaneda secured her second PacWest Defender of the Week honor, as announced on Monday afternoon. The PacWest Conference nominated the sophomore libero for her defensive efforts in the conference win over Biola and the five-set showdown against No. 2 Point Loma.

Castaneda has been the starting libero for the Sunbirds this year, showing resilience and passion against every opponent the 'Birds have faced thus far. Her ability to be in the right place in the blink of an eye has been truly valuable to the team. Not to mention her serving has contributed to a majority of the teams' service aces this season. She leads the team with 362 total digs, is second in service aces (25), and third in assists (62).

Earlier in the week, the sophomore from Visalia captured 17 digs and three service aces when the team defeated Biola 3-1 on Thursday. She then tallied 30 digs in the five-set thriller against nationally ranked PLNU. She has 5.2 digs per set on the week and is fourth in the PacWest in digs (362) and digs per set (4.26).

As of Monday afternoon, the Sunbirds are ranked 10th in the nation after registering their first loss of the season to Point Loma on Saturday. The Sea Lions also dropped in the conference rankings, moving from the number two spot back to sixth in the nation. Since both teams closed the season 11-1 in the PacWest, FPU and PLNU tied for the PacWest conference title, reigning supreme as co-champions.

The Sunbirds finished the regular season 23-1 overall and 11-1 in PacWest play.

NEXT UP: The No. 10 'Birds fly to Hawaii for the PacWest Championships on November 20-21 to take on Chaminade in the semifinals.  The winner will advance to the final to face either Point Loma or Hawaii-Hilo for an automatic qualifying berth in the NCAA Tournament.

For more information, click here for the PacWest Volleyball Championship Tournament Central.

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