AZUSA, Calif. -- Although it might have lacked the precision of its season-opening victories a day ago, the NAIA's No. 4-ranked Azusa Pacific worked out its initial struggles for 2 more wins at the season-opening Cougar Classic, sweeping Holy Names University and collecting a 4-set win over Eastern Oregon Saturday at the Felix Event Center.

The same 3 Cougars tallied double-digit kills in both matches of the day, with sophomores Marguerite Hanna and Whittany Radcliffe each joining senior outside hitter Jill Baker in double figures in both victories. Hanna tallied an impressive 12-kill, 2-error hitting line in the 25-17, 25-17, 25-16 sweep over Holy Names, adding 10 digs and a match-high 4 aces, while Radcliffe posted 10 of her collegiate career-high 12 kills in the Cougars' 3 victorious sets against Eastern Oregon.

Baker, meanwhile, extended a strong start to the season by leading Azusa Pacific in kills in both matches while converting attacks at a .300 clip or better for the fourth straight match to start the year. Baker registered 15 kills in the opening sweep before notching 19 more kills against just 3 attack errors in the 4-set win over Eastern Oregon. She was also in double figures in digs with 13 in both of the day's contests.

Sophomore middle blocker Amy Alkazin tallied 6 kills in each match, adding 7 total blocks on the day to double her team-high season total to 14 blocks through the season's first 4 matches. Sophomore libero Robin Portela added a team-high 17 digs in the first match of the day to go along with a 15-dig effort that ranked second to Hanna's 18 digs in the 4-set Eastern Oregon clash.

In the morning match against Holy Names, Hanna got things going with a kill and service ace that sparked a match-opening 7-1 run, and she helped the Cougars break a 9-9 tie later in the set with back-to-back kills early in a set-ending 16-8 run. In the second set, Azusa Pacific trailed 14-11 before a Baker kill started a 14-3 run to complete the set. With the score tied at 8-8 in the third set, Baker, Hanna and Alkazin recorded consecutive kills at the front end of an 11-2 run that gave the Cougars the lead for good.

Alkazin teamed with Baker for a block that snapped a 4-4 tie early in the opening set against Eastern Oregon, then served the rest of the 7-point run that gave Azusa Pacific an 11-4 advantage. Eastern Oregon fought off 4 straight set points behind a pair of blocks from a Julie Butterfield/Ashleigh Dailey tandem, but Alkazin's kill clinched a 25-23 win in the first set.

After dropping the second set by a 25-21 tally and trailing by a 16-14 margin in the third set, another Baker kill seemingly got the Cougars back into a rhythm that resulted in an 11-3 run to close out the third set with a 25-19 win. After falling a point behind for the fourth time in the fourth set, another Baker kill evened the set at 10-10 and started a 16-7 run over the rest of the set for the match-clinching 25-17 win.

With the victories, Azusa Pacific improves to 4-0 heading into its second of 3 preseason tournaments, the Northwestern (Iowa) College Red Raider Classic, where the Cougars will face 3 opponents ranked in the NAIA Top 25 Preseason Coaches Poll. The featured clash of the tournament is a 3 p.m. (Central Daylight Time) matchup on Saturday, Aug. 29 against tournament host and NAIA No. 5-ranked Northwestern.