Point Loma Nazarene University continued its athletic dominance in 2025. As the school year comes to a close, let’s look back at how each team fared in their respective seasons and highlight some of the best moments of the 2024-25 season.
Women’s volleyball
Arguably the most dominant team in all of PLNU athletics this year, the women’s volleyball team finished the season with a stellar 26-2 record, with only one of those losses coming in the regular season. Throughout their 28-game season, they only lost 16 sets. Reminder: three sets win the game. So, outside of their two losses, they dropped 10 sets in 26 matches. Abigail Nua, a fourth-year outside hitter, earned First Team All-American honors, Anna Massari, a fifth-year middle blocker and Sophia Baugh, a second-year setter, earned Honorable Mentions.
Women’s soccer
It’s nearly impossible to have a better season than the Sea Lions’ women’s soccer team had in the 2023 campaign, but the ’24 squad came pretty close. Fresh on the heels of a national title, they finished with a record of 17-3-1, and won the PacWest Championship before falling to No. 4 Cal Poly Pomona in the West Region Championship. A team built on its defense, the Sea Lions had a stretch of 12 games in which they allowed two goals. Eleven of those 12 games were shutouts. The 2024 team was senior-heavy, so it’ll be interesting to see how the development of a younger core plays itself out in the upcoming season. Emma Thrapp, a fifth-year defender, earned Third Team All-American honors, becoming the first multi-time Division II All-American in PLNU women’s soccer history.
Men’s soccer
The men’s soccer team had a season somewhat similar to the year prior. Finishing with a record of 11-4-3, PLNU led the PacWest for a good chunk of the season, but lost to Fresno Pacific in the PacWest semifinals and Western Oregon in the first round of the national tournament. The men’s team featured the three assist leaders in the PacWest conference: Felix Calero, a fourth-year forward, Simon Sagal, a second-year midfielder and Elijah Langford, a second-year forward. Langford was also named Division II Third Team All-American.
Women’s cross country
The women’s cross country team had its best season since 2018 in Coach Jake Poyner’s first year at the helm. The team finished third in the PacWest Championships and seventh in the West Regional, a solid improvement from fourth and 11th in 2023. Maddie Reeves, a third-year runner, had one of the best individual seasons in program history, finishing 19th in a field of 192 runners in the West Regional and fourth in the PacWest Championships, breaking the program record for the 6K with a time of 2l:05.9. A majority of the team should be returning next year; with another year of development and experience, we could see an even better season in the fall.
Women’s basketball
PLNU women’s basketball had its most successful season yet in Head Coach Charity Elliott’s tenure. The 25-win mark is the highest since the 2009-10 season. From Nov. 23 to Jan. 11, they won 12 straight games. The Sea Lions ranked second in the PacWest in both offense and defense and beat Dominican to win the PacWest title. They secured a No. 3 seed for the national tournament but lost to Central Washington in the first round of the national tournament. Alli McDonald, a fifth-year transfer, earned a spot on the All-West Region Second Team, averaging 11.4 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. Kaylee Byon, a third-year transfer, led the PacWest in assists with 159, averaging 5.3 per game.
Men’s basketball
The precedent has been set; expectations are always high for PLNU men’s basketball. The program hasn’t won fewer than 20 games in a season since the 2016-17 campaign (except for the COVID-shortened 2020-21 season). Yet again, the Sea Lions delivered with an exceptional season. At 29-6, they had the best record in the conference and won the PacWest Championship. The team won the first two games of the NCAA tournament comfortably before losing the regional championship to No. 12 Cal State Dominguez Hills, with a halfcourt heave by Luke Haupt, a fifth-year forward, coming within inches of sending it to overtime. The men’s team boasted a strong defense, finishing first in the PacWest points allowed per game. They seemingly got better as the season went on, winning 19 of the last 21 games they played. Zackry Paulsen, sixth-year guard and leading scorer for PLNU, made the NABC DII All-Star game; he was one of 18 seniors in the country selected. Haupt made First Team All-District, but is transferring to New Mexico State to play his last year of eligibility.
Women’s track and field
Reeves’ immense success in cross country has translated into track. At the Aztec Invitational in March, she broke the program record for the 5,000-meter race with a time of 16:44.46. Also during that meet, a 4×100-meter relay team composed of third-year Madison Simmers, first-year Angelica Gomes, fifth-year Blanca Granados and second-year Lily Gomez broke the program record with a time of 47.19 seconds. Two weeks later, Reeves broke the program record for the 10,000-meter race by nearly two minutes, clocking in at 34:28.75. The PacWest Championships just wrapped up, and there were multiple highlights over the weekend. PLNU finished first, second and third in the pole vault. Fourth-year Makenna Sullivan won the triple jump, jumping 11.80 meters for a personal best. Reeves took third in both the 1500m and the 5000m. First-year Sarah McGarry took third in the 400m hurdles. Overall, PLNU finished fifth in the PacWest Championships, one slot higher than last season.
Women’s tennis
With a record of 18-4, the PLNU women’s tennis team surpassed the previous season’s win total of 17 heading into the NCAA West Regional tournament after winning the PacWest Championship. They boast an impressive record of 87-31 in singles matches this season, and they’re 36-19 in the doubles department. First-year Antonia Barth, second-year Quin Brady and second-year Emely Valencia are each tied for the most singles wins on the team and have the same records, 16-3. The doubles pairing of Brady and fourth-year Arianna Audelo has been most dominant, with an impressive record of 16-2. Audelo is the only senior on a sophomore-heavy squad; the future looks bright for PLNU women’s tennis. The West Regional tournament will be played on Monday, May 12, and Tuesday, May 13. The location is to be determined.
Men’s tennis
This year’s men’s season has been similar to last year’s. Both teams finished with 13 wins heading into the NCAA West Regional tournament. But there have been marginal improvements. The ’24 team made it to the PacWest quarterfinals; the ’25 crew made it to the semis. The ’24 team took fifth in the tournament; the ’25 squad took third. Opposite of the women’s team, the men’s team has been slightly better in the doubles category than in the singles. Second-year Finn Kirschner leads the team in singles wins, with a record of 15-3. Fifth-year Andrew Suver and first-year David Fisinger lead the doubles department at 11-4. PLNU men’s tennis will look to parlay a solid season into some national tournament victories, something they didn’t accomplish last season. The West Regional tournament will be played on Friday, May 9, and Saturday, May 10. The location is to be determined.
Women’s golf
The PLNU golf team took a slight dip in performance from last year to this year. There were some high points, like finishing second at the Westmont Invitational, followed by a first-place finish the next week at the Vanguard Fall Invite. It didn’t help that third-year Kiara Hernandez, who took first individually in a few tournaments, transferred to Sonoma State after the fall semester. The team’s ninth-place finish in the PacWest Championships is a significant slide from fifth last year. The glass half-full view: There’s not a single senior on the roster, so they should continue to develop and improve, hopefully leading to a more improved 2025-26 campaign.
Baseball
The baseball team has been one of the premier programs of PLNU athletics, having made the 2022 and 2024 College World Series. With six regular season games to go, the Sea Lions sit in second place in the PacWest behind Westmont, and they’re on track to have a similar record to the ’24 team. They have a record of 32-12, and the World Series-appearance team of 2024 finished with 36 regular season wins. Jake Entrekin, a fourth-year catcher, is having a career year, posting a .436 batting average, 1.446 OPS, 18 homers and 60 runs batted in. On the pitching side, second-year Branden Jackel has led the way with 55.1 innings pitched, an earned run average of 2.77 and seven wins. Third-year Brock Mayer has 54 innings pitched with eight wins, as well. PLNU’s next home game is on Thursday, May 1, at noon against Jessup.
Makenna Richardson