By: Evan O'Kelly, Associate Commissioner for Communications

POMONA, Calif. – PacWest Conference Player of the Year Abigail Nua ripped down a season-high 23 kills on Thursday afternoon at Kellogg Gym, spurring No. 12 Point Loma to a reverse-sweep of Central Washington in the opening match of the 2024 NCAA West Region Volleyball Championships.
 
The No. 5 seed Wildcats came out of the gates swinging and grabbed the first two sets, before the No. 4 seed Sea Lions rallied to take the final three in the 3-2 (19-25, 20-25, 25-22, 25-18, 15-13) victory. PLNU improved to 26-1 on the season and advances to the regional semifinals where it will face the winner of No. 1 seed/#10 Cal Poly Pomona and No. 8 seed Simon Fraser who play later on Thursday.
 
A historic 2024 season came to an end for the Wildcats, who won their third Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball title and finished the year 18-7. Ellie Marble and Marianna Payne led CWU with 15 kills apiece while Emma Daoud-Hebert contributed a season-high 13 kills to go along with six total blocks. Marble’s kill total was her second highest of the season.
 
GNAC Defensive Player of the Year Hannah Stires produced 26 digs to go along with four assists in her final career match, while setters Kate Stidham and Kayleigh-Shay Chang had 28 assists and 26 assists, respectively. Stidham’s 28 assists matched her career high, previously achieved on Oct. 19, 2023 during her freshman campaign.
 
 
PLNU won despite committing 27 attack errors – its second-highest total of the season – compared to the Wildcats’ 16, and being out-hit in the match by CWU .270-.241. The Wildcats also held a 12.0-8.0 advantage in total blocks, but nine service errors compared to six by the Sea Lions proved to be a costly margin in a razor-tight match.
 
Along with Nua’s monster game offensively, Genevieve Hara (13 kills), Saren Rogers (12 kills) and Anna Massari (10 kills) also reached double figures for the Sea Lions. Makenna Joyce had a team-best 17 digs and Sophia Baugh dished out 53 assists to help rally her team to victory.
 
The Wildcats opened the match on fire, getting out to a 12-4 advantage in the opening set. Two kills each from honorable mention all-GNAC selection Marble and Scottie Ellsworth helped create the early separation, and the Sea Lions called a timeout after their sixth attack error of the opening frame. Point Loma made a late push, cutting the spread to 22-18 after kills by Avery Allemann and Rogers, the PacWest Conference Freshman of the Year. Daoud-Hebert silenced the threat, converting her third and fourth kills of the set to propel her team to the 25-19 triumph.
 
Corinne Westby’s first of five kills in the match got the second set started, and the Wildcats picked up right where they left off after winning the first. Nua accrued 10 kills by the middle of the second set, smashing down a point that pulled her team even at 11-11. Despite surrendering the lead at 12-11, the Wildcats rallied to win five of the next six points. A creative, left-handed put-down by Payne up against the net made the score 16-13 in favor of CWU and pushed Point Loma to call a timeout. An ensuing solo block by Daoud-Hebert got the Wildcats to 20 points, and Marble’s sixth kill of the match ended the second set 25-20 in favor of CWU.
 
The early phase of the third set was accentuated by a pair of loud kills by Payne, as she smashed her team to a 9-5 lead. With their season on the line, the Sea Lions dug deep and turned a 19-16 advantage into a six-point spread at 24-18. Facing set point, Ashton McMahon served CWU to a four-point rally to get her team back into it. Nua had the set-winning swing however, as PLNU forced a fourth frame with a 25-22 win.
 
The teams alternated winning the first 15 points of the fourth set, before the Wildcats finally won consecutive points to pull ahead 9-7. A solo block off the hands of Massari gave PLNU its first lead of the fourth set, as it nudged ahead 15-14. Momentum swung into the Sea Lions’ favor after that, as they built a cushion at 18-14 and 21-16. Rogers and Massari elevated for a loud combo block, spelling the end of the fourth set 25-18.
 
Back-to-back kills by Payne gave the Wildcats their first lead of the fifth set, as she combined a powerful swing with a crafty cut shot to make the score 2-1. Daoud-Hebert took over after that, sandwiching a pair of big kills with a block in tandem with Westby to push CWU ahead 7-5. The Sea Lions had the final burst of momentum however, overcoming a 13-12 deficit and winning the final three points of the match. Rogers sent her team to the regional semifinals with consecutive kills to end it at 15-13.
 
MATCH NOTES: Thursday marked the fifth all-time meeting between the teams, with CWU holding a 3-2 advantage in head to head affairs…CWU competed in its 12th consecutive NCAA regional championship and 15th overall since the GNAC was founded in 2001…CWU went 4-3 in five-set matches while PLNU moved to 1-1 in five-set matches this season…the Sea Lions extended their current winning streak to four matches while the Wildcats snapped an eight-match winning streak with the defeat.
 
GNAC History For Daoud-Hebert, Stires: Daoud-Hebert capped her collegiate career by breaking the GNAC single-season record for hitting percentage. Upon the completion of Thursday’s match, the senior’s mark of .450 this fall shattered the previous figure of .425, set by Western Oregon’s Krissi Kimper in 2012. At the outset of Thursday’s match, Daoud-Hebert ranked second in Division II volleyball with the national leader Sydney Morland of Wingate holding an attack percentage of .449 (Morland’s season continues on Friday with Wingate’s regional opener).
 

GNAC Single-Season Hitting % Leaders (Min. 3.0 Attacks/Set)
Rank	Player	Hitting %	School	Season
1	Emma Daoud-Hebert	.450	Central Washington	2024
2	Krissi Kimper	.425	Western Oregon	2012
3	LeAnne McGahuey	.418	Central Washington	2004
4	Robyn Burton	.416	Alaska Anchorage	2011
5	Madi Farrell	.414	Northwest Nazarene	2017
6	Kayleigh Harper	.410	Western Washington	2018
7	Emma Daoud-Hebert	.387	Central Washington	2023
8	Kayleigh Harper	.382	Western Washington	2019
	Nikki Lowell	.382	Seattle Pacific	2010
10	Chloe Roetcisoender	.381	Western Washington	2022

With her six total blocks in Thursday’s match, Daoud-Hebert finished with 488 in her career to finish fourth on the GNAC all-time leaderboard. Her average of 1.33 blocks per set ranked her fifth in GNAC history.
 

GNAC Career Total Blocks Leaders (as of Dec. 5, 2024)
Rank	Player	Total Blocks	School	Career
1	Hannah Hair	629	Seattle Pacific	2020-24
2	Kayleigh Harper	597	Western Washington	2015-16, 18-19
3	Madi Farrell	559	Northwest Nazarene	2014-17
4	Emma Daoud-Hebert	488	Central Washington	2020-24
5	Cammy Dranginis	473	Northwest Nazarene	2006-09
6	Sabrina Wheelhouse	472	Central Washington	2014-17
7	Erin Braun	469	Alaska Anchorage	2013-16
8	Vera Pluharova	448	Alaska Anchorage	2017-21
9	Chloe Roetcisoender	439	Western Washington	2019-22
10	Shaun Crespi	433	Seattle Pacific	2015-18

Stires’ 26 digs on Thursday put her career total at 1,988, as she climbed one spot to finish No. 7 on the all-time GNAC leaderboard. Stires also ranked 10th in GNAC history with an average of 4.93 digs per set in her career.
 

GNAC Career Digs Leaders (as of Dec. 5, 2024)
Rank	Player	Digs	School	Career
1	Courtney Schneider	2,695	Western Washington	2004-07
2	Samantha Hutchinson	2,438	Western Washington	2011-14
3	Kyla Morgan	2,342	Central Washington	2016-19
4	Anna Herold	2,316	Seattle Pacific	2008-11
5	Alison McKay	2,094	Simon Fraser	2013-16
6	Maggie Safranski	2,008	Seattle	2002-05
7	Hannah Stires	1,988	Central Washington	2020-24
8	Caroline McMahon	1,976	Northwest Nazarene	2019-23
9	Kaely Kight	1,955	Central Washington	2011-14
10	Abby Phelps	1,915	Western Washington	2015-18