SAN DIEGO, Calif. -- The NAIA's No. 10-ranked Azusa Pacific fought off a pair of match points while rallying from 2 sets down for an important 25-27, 20-25, 25-18, 27-25, 15-6 Golden State Athletic Conference road win over No. 7-ranked Point Loma Nazarene University Saturday afternoon.

The Cougars relied heavily on the right arm of senior outsider hitter Jill Baker, who completed the comeback win with 2 of her match- and season-high 26 kills. Baker led the Azusa Pacific offense with 69 attack attempts, her first match with more than 50 attempts this season and her first 60-attempt match since the 2007 regular-season finale when she set the program's single-match kills record (37) in 68 attempts in a 5-set win at Vanguard.

Saturday's thriller was the third straight time that Azusa Pacific and Point Loma Nazarene have played to 5 sets in San Diego, and it was the Cougars' fifth win in the last 6 meetings at Point Loma's Golden Gymnasium. In fact, two years ago, Azusa Pacific rallied from 2 sets down as well as a 23-17 third-set deficit for a 5-set victory over the Sea Lions, who were also ranked No. 7 in the NAIA at the time.

Back-to-back kills from sophomores Whittany Radcliffe and Amy Alkazin sparked an 11-4 run in the third set that snapped the third tie (14-14) of a set in which the Cougars never trailed. There were 18 ties and 9 lead changes in the fourth set, and Point Loma took the largest lead of the set for either team, a 3-point advantage at 20-17 and again at 21-18. Junior defensive specialist Julia Wehsener's service ace capped a 4-point run for a 22-21 Cougar lead, but Point Loma Nazarene recovered and took a 24-23 lead after blocking a Baker attack.

Baker answered with kills that saved both of the Sea Lions' match points at 24-23 and 25-24, and sophomore Krista Brenner's solo block of Point Loma Nazarene kills leader Tabitha Henken put the Cougars within a point of forcing the fifth set. The Sea Lions obliged, committing a ball-handling error to complete Azusa Pacific's 27-25 fourth-set win.

The Cougars reeled off 9 of the first 10 points of the deciding fifth set, using a pair of Alkazin kills to take a 9-1 lead. Baker registered the final 2 Azusa Pacific points with her 25th and 26th kills, sealing a 15-6 fifth-set win.

Alkazin finished with 13 kills, her first time in double digits this season, and Radcliffe joined them in double figures with 10 kills. Sophomore setter Raechel Jones orchestrated the Cougar offense with a match-high 35 assists, and sophomore libero Robin Portela was the match digs leader with 20, which was also an individual season-best. Wehsener added 18 digs, shattering her personal career best of 9 digs set just a week ago in a 4-set win at Westmont.

Point Loma Nazarene was led by a 21-kill, 19-dig effort from Henken, and Alyssa Pitkin added 19 kills and 18 digs for the Sea Lions.

With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 12-4 overall and 3-1 in conference play, and the Cougars have won 3 straight heading into Tuesday's visit to No. 19-ranked Biola. Point Loma Nazarene's losing skid hits 3 games, as the Sea Lions drop to 11-3 overall, 1-3 GSAC.