SIOUX CITY, Ia. – Fresno Pacific (33-0) began its 19th in the NAIA National Volleyball Championships Monday, making a statement with a sweeping victory over St. Ambrose of Iowa (35-8).
The Sunbirds, who have won the last two national titles, won 25-16, 25-11, 26-24 in the Tyson Event Center.
Coach Dennis Janzen commented, “We had a few nerves but for the most part settled in and played well.”
Despite being pushed in the third set, the Sunbirds held St. Ambrose to a .073 hitting percentage and hit .261 with 15 errors but only 3 in each of the first two sets. The Sunbirds out-hit St. Ambrose 44 to 30 in kills and out-blocked the Iowa school 14 to 3.
"We had a big comeback in set three, and I liked that," Janzen said. "We blocked well and played good defense. Maybe we're the comeback kids."
The Sunbirds trailed 21-24 in the final set, but managed to go on a 5-0 run to finish off the match.
Martina Gregusova led the Sunbirds with 13 kills, and also contributed 13 digs, 2 blocks and a service ace. Lisa Shilling followed with 8 kills, leading the Sunbirds with a .533 hitting percentage with no errors.
Shilling also led the Sunbirds with six total blocks including two solo blocks. Karlie Houston and Keke Wang followed with five blocks apiece. Mariah Mandlelbaum led with 14 digs while Erika Adachi had 21 assists for the Sunbirds.
Lauren Albertson sat out the match with a hip injury and Houston stepped up as her replacement. In a five-day tournament with six games to play to the title match, Janzen felt it necessary to rest Albertson for the bigger picture.
Fresno Pacific will continue pool play against Point Loma Nazarene at 11 a.m. (PST) on Tuesday (Dec. 2). The Sunbirds defeated Point Loma 3-1 and 3-0 in their two meetings this season.