AZUSA, Calif. -- It took Azusa Pacific a little while to get going, and this time it cost the Cougars.
Vanguard stormed from the opening serve then held off a furious Cougar charge to get a 30-17, 30-28, 18-30, 30-27 win over the Cougars in a GSAC match Thursday night in Azusa.
The loss snaps the Cougars' mild 4-match winning streak.
The Lions registered 11 straight kills without an error to open the match and set the tone as they finished the first game with a .469 hitting percentage. While they undoubtedly cooled off, the Lions were still effective on the attack getting key point after key point while also taking advantage of the Cougars' miscues.
Vanguard opened up a 15-8 lead in the opening game before the Cougars rallied to get within 21-17 on a Chelsea Morgan kill. That was all the Cougars scored though as the Lions put the game away with 9 straight points.
Katrina Anker finished with 9 kills and 17 digs, and her kill tied game 2 at 22-22. At that point, tough Sonrisa Peace recorded back-to-back kills to start a 6-2 Vanguard run before the teams traded the final 4 points the final coming on one of Jaclyn Lee's match-high 17 kills.
Seemingly dead in the water down 2-0, the Cougars arose and rebounded to make a match of it. It was all Cougars in game 3 as the Cougars scored the first 4 points and never looked back. In that third game alone, Jenny Brickner and Morgan combined for 12 of the Cougars' 19 kills as they hit an impressive .484 for the game.
The Cougars, who had won 9 of its past 11 coming into tonight, jumped out to a 10-3 lead in the fourth game and seemed destined for a fifth and deciding game. They had all the momentum on their side until the Lions rallied with a 10-3 run of their own to tie the game at 13-13. The teams traded leads until Vanguard's Keri DeHaas recorded 3 straight kills to give Vanguard a 25-22 lead it would not relinquish. The Cougars got within 28-27 and had the serve, but Brickner committed a service error, and Peace put the match away with a kill.
The Cougars, who combined for 30 aces in the past 2 matches, reverted back to their early-season serving struggles and committed 16 service errors.
Morgan and Brickner each finished with 16 kills apiece. Alison Pattison had a team-high 20 digs. Brianne Huff added 9 kills, 12 digs and 3 aces. Brickner had 7 blocks.
