Box Score AZUSA, Calif. – In this much-needed victory, All-American senior Jill Baker tallied a match-high 21 kills to lead the NAIA's No.7-ranked Azusa Pacific over Hope International, 21-25, 25-17, 25-21, 25-18 in a Golden State Athletic Conference match in the Felix Event Center Tuesday evening.

As has been the case much of the season, the Cougars were sluggish in the first set and found themselves playing catch-up from the opening serve. The Cougars' were flat and never had complete control, taking the lead only once, and it looked as if they were on their heels until the beginning of the second set.

"There were some good things that we did," said Cougar head coach Chris Keife, "as the match went along, our blocks and serving got better and we were getting a lot more digs as the game went on."

Azusa Pacific got back into the swing of things. The Cougars opened the second set with a 5-0 run before the Royals could even attempt an attack. The Cougars passing improved to near perfection with only 1 receiving error on 22 second-set opportunities. After the strong start, Azusa Pacific seemed to be in sync for the first time.

"We needed to step up," Baker said, " and knock the team off-balance. It wasn't okay for us to drop that first game like we did. Once we find our rhythm, we are able to attack better and find our location."

Though the blocking and serving improved, the Cougars were in another battle in the third set. It was only after a towering block-assist by Amy Alkazin and Krista Brenner that the Cougars put away the Royals with a 6-3 run to finish the third set 25-21. Both Alkazin and Brenner had 4 blocks to limit Hope's attack.

After capitalizing on a late 7-3 run off a Whittany Radcliffe kill in the final set, the Cougars finished off the Royals with 7 more points to close the match with 6 different players on attacks.

Along with her 21 kills, Baker also had a match-high 18 digs which helped set up the Cougar attack. She has recorded double-digit kills in 15 straight matches this season, giving her double-figure in 113 of her 123 career matches.

Azusa Pacific also benefited from several others, Radcliffe tallied 14 kills, and Amy Alkazin had 9 kills with just 2 errors. Sophomore libero Robin Portela added to the team dig count with 13 of her own.

Naomi Iosia led Hope International with 16 kills and 12 digs. She was the only Royal to register in double-digits on the night.

With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 16-5 overall, 7-2 GSAC, while Hope International drops to 6-14 overall and 2-7 GSAC. Azusa Pacific has now won 21 of the past 22 meetings with the Royals and improves to 27-3 on the series history.

Azusa Pacific's next match is on the road Saturday (Oct. 10) match against No. 2-ranked Concordia at 7 p.m.