SAN DIEGO – A valiant Hawai'i Pacific University comeback attempt fell just short as homestanding Point Loma held on for a 3-2 PacWest Conference win Thursday night at Golden Gymnasium.
 
The Cougars (7-6, 4-2) edged the Sharks (3-9, 2-4) 25-22, 28-26, 23-25, 16-25, 16-14.
 
The Sharks came back from two sets down and sent the fifth set to extra play after tying the set at 14-all. But the Sea Lions closed out the set and match with a kill from Madelynn Fox and a service ace from Cara Keturakis gave the match to PLNU.
 
HPU outhit PLNU .253 to .228, but the Sea Lions had 8.0 team blocks to the Sharks 7.0.
 
The Sharks were paced by the play of senior Carson Pyle of Houston, Texas/Memorial who tallied 14 kills and five blocks while leading the Sharks with a .500 hitting percentage. Junior Perla Escobar of Calexico, Calif./Calexico also notched 14 kills in recording her sixth double-double of the season with 13 digs. . Sophomore Camryn Collie of El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge double-doubled for the third time, collecting 11 kills and 15 digs, as senior Chandler Lippincott of Phoenix, Ariz./Desert Vista nailed 10 kills.
 
PLNU got a double-double of 19 kills and 14 digs from Rachael Schlect, to go with 18 kills from Jaime Cymbaluk and 11 kills and a .500 attack percentage from Fox. Kayla Chapman led the Sea Lions with four blocks.
 
Point Loma got the upper hand in the first set, breaking a 15-all tie with a 6-1 run on the way to a 25-22 win.
 
In the second set, the Sharks fell behind 12-4 before chipping back. Still trailing 23-18, HPU sprung a 6-1 run on the Sea Lions and tied the set on a Lippincott kill. The Sharks tied the set again at 25 and 26 before PLNU tallied back-to-back kills to win 28-26.
 
The third set was one of the most exciting, as the teams combined for 12 ties and three lead changes before the Sharks picked up the 25-23 win. Both teams went on 5-1 runs early to start the ties, but it was PLNU that built a 21-18 advantage. That's when HPU answered with a 3-0 run to tie it up and the team tied again at 22 and 23. HPU got a kill from Escobar and an attack error by the Sea Lions for the 25-23 win.
 
The Sharks totally dominated the fourth set, using a 6-0 run to take a lead they wouldn't relinquish. HPU won going away by nine points as junior Amanda Acosta of Exeter, Calif./Extra Union collected two service aces and Escobar got the kill to put HPU up 25-16.
 
The deciding set saw 10 ties and six lead changes as the Sharks came back from two points down to tie the set at 14, but Sea Lions got the final two points to get the win.
 
HPU closes its four-game Southern California road trip on Saturday when the Sharks visit Biola. First serve at Chase Gymnasium in La Mirada is set for 4 p.m. HST (7 p.m. PDT).