IRVINE, Calif. -- Following a pattern it set the previous week, the NAIA's No. 4-ranked Azusa Pacific recovered from a sluggish Friday with an impressive Saturday. The Cougars recovered from Friday's upset loss to unranked Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) with 3 straight victories, capped by a dominant 25-21, 25-18, 25-10 sweep over No. 13-ranked Olivet Nazarene (Ill.) University Saturday evening to wrap up its 4-match participation in the Asics/Crowne Plaza Labor Day Tournament hosted by Concordia University.

A week ago, Azusa Pacific suffered Friday losses to unranked Black Hills State and No. 23 Doane (Neb.) at the Northwestern (Iowa) Red Raider Classic. The next day, the Cougars came right back to deal No. 11-ranked Bellevue (Neb.) a 3-set sweep before knocking off No. 5 Northwestern (Iowa) on its own home court in 5 sets.

Led by senior outside hitter Jill Baker and her match-high 14 kills and team-high 8 digs, the Cougars were nearly perfect in Saturday's final opportunity to prepare for the grueling 20-match Golden State Athletic Conference schedule that lies ahead. Azusa Pacific is now 3-0 vs. teams ranked in the NAIA's top 20, a group that includes 6 other conference foes.

Azusa Pacific kept its errors to season-lows in hitting and serving, registering a blistering .437 attack percentage and surrendering just 2 points in the entire match on service errors. Baker committed her only attack error in the opening set, and then converted 12 swings into kills in just 17 attacks without an error the rest of the way. Sophomore middle blockers Ariel Beetstra and Amy Alkazin were completely error-free in the match, combining for 11 kills in just 15 attack attempts. Each tallied 3 blocks, and Alkazin added a match-high 3 aces.

Freshman outside hitter Marguerite Hanna registered 11 kills, 8 digs and 2 blocks, and sophomore Krista Brenner tallied 6 kills while tying a personal season-high with 4 blocks. No Olivet Nazarene players reached double-digits in kills, and the Tigers managed just 3 team blocks against the Cougars' efficient offense.

In the opening set, Hanna recorded 3 late kills that helped Azusa Pacific rally from a late 20-18 deficit with a 7-1 run to finish the set. Hanna and Brenner each had 6 kills in the first set. The Cougars never trailed in the second set, racing out to a 9-3 lead behind 4 Baker kills, although Olivet Nazarene scored 5 straight points to pull within 14-12. A pair of Alkazin kills provided 2 of the next 3 Cougar points, and Azusa Pacific finished the 25-18 win with an 11-6 spurt. In the final set, Olivet Nazarene failed to score a single point on its own serve, registering all 10 of its points on sideouts.

With the victory, Azusa Pacific takes its 9-3 overall record into Thursday's GSAC opener, a 7 p.m. clash at home with No. 3-ranked California Baptist University.