HONOLULU – Hawai'i Pacific University rolled up a fifth straight sweep by taking out Point Loma 3-0 in PacWest Conference action Friday night at The Shark Tank.
 
The Sharks (15-6, 11-2) surprised the Sea Lions (12-8, 8-4) 25-18, 25-20, 28-26 for their 11th win in the last 12 matches, with nine of those wins sweeps. HPU is in a third place tie in the PacWest race with Hawai'i Hilo.
 
HPU hit .242 with four team blocks in the victory, while Point Loma hit .132 with six team blocks.
 
Senior Perla Escobar of Calexico, Calif./Calexico posted 15 kills with a .270 attack percentage and a block. Junior Cameryn Collie of El Dorado Hills, Calif./Oak Ridge collected 14 kills with a .333 attack percentage and a block. Sophomore Kirah Boynton-Brown of Vancouver, Wash./Union hit .625 with five kills and led the Sharks with two blocks. Defensively, senior libero Amanda Acosta of Exeter, Calif./Extra Union racked up 24 digs.
 
Madie Fox led the Sea Lions with 13 kills and hit .320, while Grace Hicks tallied eight kills and Claire Smith recorded five blocks.
 
The Sharks dominated the first two sets, never trailing and tied only three times.
 
The opening set found HPU opening with a 6-1 run, and never looking back. PLNU cut the HPU lead to 13-12 when a Sea Lion service error started a 7-1 run that put the Sharks up 20-13. The teams traded points before Point Loma closed the gap to 24-18 and Collie responded with a kill to end the set for the Sharks at 25-18.
 
The Sharks got off to another quick start in the second set with a 5-1 run and with an Escobar kill gong up 6-2. Another Escobar kill put HPU up 15-10, only to see the Sea Lions respond with a 5-0 run to tie the set at 15-all. After trading points, Collie chalked up back-to-back-to-back kills for her own 3-0 run and put the Sharks up by three. HPU pushed out the lead to five and won the set 25-20 with an Escobar kill.
 
The third set was by far the most competitive, marked by 10 ties and six lead changes. HPU opened with a 6-3 run and expanded the advantage to 13-9 midway through the match. That's when the Sea Lions responded with a 7-2 run to take their first lead of the match on a service ace from Claire Smith at 16-15. PLNU built a 22-19 lead in the set when the Sharks responded with a 4-0 run behind the serving of junior Casey Davenport of Auburn, Wash./Mountainview for the 23-22 lead.
 
HPU got a kill from Escobar to serve for the match, only to have a block from the Sea Lions tie the set at 24. PLNU grabbed a 25-24 lead and served for the set, only to have sophomore Lauren Christie of Lebanon, Ore./Lebanon get the kill to tie the set at 25. A Collie kill allowed for a second serve for the match, but the Sea Lions responded to knot the set at 26.
 
HPU came back with another kill from Collie for a 27-26 lead, then got the win after a continued rally on an attack error by Point Loma for the 28-26 final.
 
The Sharks don't have much time for celebration, as they host PacWest co-leader Azusa Pacific on Saturday. Fans are encouraged to wear pink for the annual Dig Pink match that starts an hour earlier than normal at 6 p.m. at The Shark Tank.