Freshman Jill Baker collected a season-high 19 kills to lead the NAIA's No. 14-ranked Azusa Pacific to a 30-25, 30-14, 30-18 sweep over San Diego Christian in the Golden State Athletic Conference opener for both teams Tuesday night. Baker has registered at least 13 kills in all 5 matches of her young Cougar career thus far, and she currently ranks as the team's season leader in kills and digs.

Baker collected 8 kills in the first game alone, leading the Cougars to an early 16-9 advantage, but 5 Azusa Pacific attack errors allowed the Hawks to within 17-15, but Baker notched 4 kills from that point on, including the game-clincher to seal the 30-25 Game 1 victory.

After an Azusa Pacific attack error to start the second game, sophomore Megan Burch's kill sparked an 8-point run, part of a 14-2 burst that gave the Cougars a 14-3 advantage. Baker and junior Brianne Huff each added 5 kills, and the team compiled a .424 attack percentage in the 30-14 Game 2 win.

Baker saved her best for the final game, collecting 6 kills without an error in the third game, including 4 in a game-opening 10-2 run. The Hawks came back to within a point 3 times, the last at 13-12, but Baker's next kill got the Cougars back on track to score 17 of the game's final 23 points in the 30-18 win.

Burch finished with 8 kills in just 10 attack attempts and 3 service aces, and Huff registered 9 kills. Senior Chelsea Morgan finished with 11 kills, and sophomore Allison Kincheloe tallied 8 digs, 2 aces and 41 assists, vaulting her past the 2,000 mark in career assists with 2,033. Junior Alison Pattison and sophomore Brittany Brown each finished with 8 digs, and sophomore Kelsey Knudsen registered a team-high 4 blocks.

With the win, Azusa Pacific runs its season-opening winning streak to 5 and has won 3 straight GSAC openers. The Cougars return to action Thursday for the 2006 home opener against Vanguard at 7 p.m.