AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific carried hopes of an upset well into a key match, but hope was not enough as the NAIA's No. 8-ranked Cougars fell to No. 1 Fresno Pacific, 25-21, 23-25, 25-17, 25-20 in a Golden State Athletic Conference match in the Felix Event Center Tuesday evening.

Senior outside hitter Jill Baker registered a match-high 23 kills and got support from sophomore middle blocker Amy Alkazin and sophomore right side hitter Whittany Radcliffe. Combined, the three hit for a whopping .380 percent with a total of only 12 attacking errors that aided the Cougars in the match. Radcliffe finished with 9 kills and Alkazin with 8 kills.

After dropping the first set, the Cougars kept the lead throughout the second set and wouldn't let Fresno Pacific off easy. They opened the set with 4 straight points and continued to show the Sunbirds their young talent. Midway through the set, Fresno Pacific rallied to tie the set at 13 but Azusa Pacific responded to move out to a 20-15 advantage and held on to take the set and tie the match at 1 set apiece.

Set 3 was back and forward through the first 30 points, but with the score knotted at 15-15, the Cougar's surrendered 8 straight points, including 3 off serving aces by the Sunbirds. Fresno took the momentum and went with it. Fresno Pacific's NAIA Player of the Week, sophomore outside hitter Martina Gregusova, led the Sunbirds and tallied a match-high 23 kills with just 5 attacking errors on 47 attempts. She also registered 4 serving aces. Also, the Sunbird's senior outside hitter Tiffany Marinos and junior middle blocker Ke Ke Wang both had 13 kills with a combined .366 attacking percentage.

Though the Cougars started the final set flat, they rallied back to keep the set tight before the Sunbirds nailed down the set and the match victory. The win is FPU's 37th straight over Azusa Pacific.

Sophomore setter Raechel Jones had 25 assists and an ace, and sophomore libero Robin Portela was Azusa Pacific's dig leader with 21.

Azusa Pacific has its 5-match winning streak snapped and falls to 14-5 overall and 5-2 in GSAC play. Fresno Pacific remains undefeated and improves to 17-0 and 7-0 in GSAC. Azusa Pacific continues conference play at home on Saturday, Oct. 3, against The Master's with a 3 p.m. start time at the Felix Event Center.