Stockton, Calif. - With control of the 33rd Annual Bankers Classic on the line, the Pacific women's volleyball team answered the call as the swept the previously undefeated Black Knights of Army on Saturday, September 3.  The win moved the Tigers to 5-1 on the year and 2-0 at the tournament while the Black Knights fell to 4-1 overall and 1-1 at the tournament.

Game scores for the match were: 25-22, 25-22, 25-16.

With the two winners from the previous night meeting on Saturday morning, the Tigers had their sights set on taking firm control of their own Bankers Classic with a victory as they looked to repeat as tournament champions.  Despite not playing at their best offensively, the Tigers found a way to win, relying on their defensive prowess along the back line to frustrate the Black Knight attack and force them into mistakes.  For the match, the Tigers held Army to sub-.100 hitting as the Black Knights hit just .084 as a team while Pacific was able to scratch together a .219 effort. 

Opening the match, the Tigers used two seperate runs to do their damage in the game as Pacific jumped out to an early five point lead which was enough to cushion an Army rally late before ending the game on a 6-3 run.  Over the final nine points of the game, the Tigers turned a 19-19 tie into a three point victory as senior Samantha Misa went to work at the pins on the Black Knight defense, scoring three of her game high eight kills during that stretch.

A game later it was nearly the same story as it was a 5-2 run at the end of the game that broke a 20-20 tie and turned the match into a comfortable win for the Tigers.  Hitting just .119 in the game as a team, Pacific looked to its defense in the frame to stymie the Black Knight attack.  Led by junior Hannah Clancy with a game-best 13 digs, the Tigers picked up 29 digs in the game and forced Army into nine attack errors in 52 swings as the Black Knights hit just .038 in the game.

Up a commanding two games to none, the Tigers put the Black Knights away for good with a dominant opening run in what would be the final game of the morning session as Pacific opened the game scoring the first seven points and 11 of the first 12 to bury Army.  Kicking the game off for the Tigers, sophomore Jennifer Sanders tallied three of the first four kills for Pacific while adding a block for good measure.  The sophomore posted a game-best six kills in just eight swings in the frame to lead the Tigers to the win.

Overall, Misa picked up a match-high 15 kills as the senior was the lone attacker on both sides of the net to reach double-figures in kills.  She added seven digs and one assists to put the Tigers one win away from the touranment championship.  Alongside of their senior captain, Sanders ended her day with eight kills and just one errror on 18 swings while sophomore Megan Birch picked up nine kills on 33 attempts.

Defensively, Clancy guided the Tigers throughout the day as the junior posted 21 digs to go along with 34 assists for her third double-double of the season.  Pacific's defensive specialists, senior libero Rebekah Torres and sophomore Koala Matsuoka each hit the double-digit mark in digs with 12 and 10, respectively.  Sophomore Siga Appelgate got in on the action as well as the Las Vegas native picked up a career-high nine digs.

For the Black Knights, Fabiola Castro and Megan Wilton wach tallied a team-high eight kills.  Ariana Mankus led the Black Knights' defensive effort with 23 digs while D.J. Phee posted 17 and Francine Vasquez picked up 14.

The Tigers will look to close out the 33rd Annual Community Bankers Classic with another championship tonight as they take on Duquesne at 7:00 pm.  Prior to the Tigers match, Army will take on Mississippi State at 5:00 pm as the two teams close out their weekend at the tournament.