FULLERTON, Calif. -- This time last year, Chris Keife was in the infant stages of one of the greatest one-season turnarounds in GSAC history turning a dormant Hope International team into a playoff team.

Tonight he made his first visit back to the campus that gave him his first head coaching opportunity this time on the other bench as Azusa Pacific's head coach, and he got a little more than he bargained for.

Playing spirited volleyball in front of its former mentor, Hope International pushed Azusa Pacific to the limit, but in the end the Cougars pulled out a 3-2 GSAC-opening win over the Royals, 27-30, 30-28, 30-16, 29-31, 15-12.

The win moves the Cougars to 7-3 on the season, 1-0 in GSAC. Hope International falls to 6-3, 0-1.

The Cougars shrugged off a slow start and rebounded to take a commanding 2-1 lead, including a convincing 30-16 win in the third game. With momentum safely on their side, the Cougars were serving for the match in the fourth game with 29-26 lead before the Royals rallied to score the next 5 points to take the game and make a match of it. The Royals actually took a 7-4 lead in the fifth game before the Cougars rallied to take control.

Katrina Anker led all players with 15 kills. She also added 14 digs. Brianne Huff finished with 13 kills and 12 digs.

As a team, the Cougars struggled on the offensive end hitting at just a .165 clip and committing 34 attack errors. But for one of the few times in the early-season, the Cougar defense rose to the challenge. As a team the Cougars collected 96 digs (Hope had 83) and tallied 18 blocks.

Chelsea Morgan had 9 blocks to go along with her 10 kills. Jenny Brickner added 8 blocks, 9 kills and 4 aces.