For Point Loma Nazarene University women’s volleyball head coach Jonathan Scott, winning is always the expectation.
However, after opening the season with 22 straight wins and a Div. II national ranking of 13 – both program bests – Scott did acknowledge the silver lining of the Sea Lions first loss of the year, against Chaminade, on Nov. 15. in a battle of unbeaten teams.
“I would never have taken the loss intentionally,” Scott said. “Had we had our way we’d still be undefeated but there is no doubt about it, part of that pressure has been released. Maybe a little fire and focus have returned knowing that there is a chink in the armor and we have to get ready to improve.”
Less than 18 hours later, the four-set loss was a distant memory as PLNU bounced back with a dominant first-set and then victory over PacWest rival Jessup.
“Pressure is only natural when you start to realize what a special team we have and what a special opportunity this is,” fifth-year senior, middle blocker, Anna Massari said. “It was heartbreaking [losing] Friday night. After sitting in that for a little bit, I do think there is a positive to having the loss and knowing what that feels like. We didn’t think about the streak that much because we didn’t want it to get to the point of there being so much pressure to keep it alive.”
Point Loma closes out the regular season on Nov. 23. Hosting conference opponent Menlo at Golden Gymnasium. The NCAA Championships open on Dec. 5. With the NCAA West Regional.
“There’s so much gratitude looking back at my career,” Massari said. “I am going to fight to not let this end. Hopefully, we will make the tournament and I can play as many more games as possible.”
Massari and fellow 2023 All-American, middle hitter Abigail Nua have had particularly impactful seasons for the Sea Lions. Nua leads the team with 332 kills on the season with Massari adding 201. Nua has filled the stat sheet with 385 points, and Massari with 289.
“Anna was a first-time All-American last year, there is a good chance she will get something similar to that this season,” Scott said. “This is her fifth year so she’s done as soon as the postseason ends. Hopefully, we have a lot more games together. She’s one of the top middles in the country when it comes to looking at the whole position. She is physical and efficient as an attacker and is one of the better blockers.
“Abbie will probably win her third All-American. She takes on a lot of the pressure. She plays the whole game at a high level and competes harder than anyone. We wouldn’t be here without either one of them.”
Scott pointed to sophomore setter Sophia Baugh as an unsung hero.
“Due to injury, she was our only health setter for the first half of the season,” Scott said. “Talk about pressure. Had she gotten hurt we would have been scrambling. Not only did she handle that well, she has been one of the better setters in the entire country.”
Last season, PLNU advanced to the NCAA Championship, for the second time in program history, after winning the PacWest, but dropped its opening round game, three sets to zero to Cal Poly Pomona.
“I think we might be a little bit better this year,” Scott said. “This team has had fight and grit when things get tough. We’ve come back a lot of times to win. We have fought harder and have had an incredible sense of calm and composure where volleyball is an emotional game.”
The biggest difference from 2023 to 2024 has been the health of the team.
“We had several key injuries that fizzled out at the end of the season,” Scott said. “Had we stayed healthy, we could have made a deep run. Up to this point, we have had a good amount of luck with the health side of things.”
Heading into the postseason, Scott knows the talent is there, but he’s cautious about the group’s relative inexperience.
“The most important thing as far as experience goes is experiencing the outstanding wins and the difficult losses and being able to come back and do it again anyway,” he said. “We don’t have a lot of that. We had a good year last year but fizzled out in the end. In my opinion, there isn’t a lot of postseason pressure experience. How will we handle single elimination That’s a different animal.”
“We know that we have a special group,” Massari added. “We have that extra level of fire [after the loss] and we don’t want to feel that way again.”
