Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAN DIEGO, Calif. - Azusa Pacific began the 2014 campaign with a pair of matches at the Seaside Invitational on Friday at Point Loma. The Cougars dropped a tight four-setter to start the day against Metro State before rebounding to post a come-from-behind victory over Cal State Dominguez Hills

Match 1 – Metro State 3, Azusa Pacific 1 (22-25, 25-23, 25-21, 29-27)

Azusa Pacific battled back-and-forth with Metro State on Friday morning at the Seaside Invitational but came out on the short end of the stick. 

A pair of newcomers to the Cougars program played a vital role in the tightly contested match. Katy Crouse had a match high 19 kills while recording a strong hitting percentage of .471. Both numbers represented collegiate bests for the Iona transfer. Kristina Kam also had a personal best match by posting a team high 17 digs.

The opening set proved to be nip-and-tuck from the start. The stanza featured 11 ties and six lead changes before the Cougars grabbed the set in the latter stages. Down 22-21, Azusa Pacific rattled off four straight points to take a 1-0 lead in the match.

Metro State, which earned a spot in the NCAA Division II Championships last season, reversed its fortunes in the second set. Similarly to the first stanza neither squad held a lead larger than four points. The Roadrunners nudged ahead late 23-21 but a kill by Crouse and an attack error from Summer Greager tied the match at 23-23. However the Cougars momentum was stopped there as Metro State won the next two points to tie the match at a game each.

Azusa Pacific jumped out to a 13-7 lead to open the second set which caused the Roadrunners to call a timeout. After the stoppage in play, Metro State regrouped and won seven of the next eight points to knot the score at 14-14. They eventually continued that run by taking a 23-17 lead before grabbing the set by a four-point margin.

During the final set each team had prime opportunities to win the set before Metro State prevailed. Azusa Pacific had a 24-22 lead but three consecutive points gave the Roadrunners a 25-24 lead and their first match point. Metro State had another match point at 26-25 but a Mattie Shelford kill staved off that opportunity. The Cougars had a third chance to claim the set by taking a 27-26 lead but a Lauren Quijano kill started a run of three straight points to close out the match. 

Azusa Pacific got a double figure kill effort from Alicia Utke (12) and Mattie Shelford (11) in the opener. Jaden Louie stepped to the forefront at the setter spot by dishing out 36 assists. 

Match 2 – Azusa Pacific 3, Cal State Dominguez Hills 2 (25-20, 21-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-11)

Azusa Pacific enacted a measure of revenge by knocking off Cal State Dominguez Hills in the second match on Friday. Last season the Toros won a five setter on the opening day.

The Cougars grabbed control just before the midway point in the first frame. With the set knotted at 11-11, Azusa Pacific took advantage of three attack errors as they won six straight points. Dominguez Hills couldn't close their deficit to less than three points as Azusa Pacific grabbed the opener.

In the second set the Toros flipped the script. With the score 17-17, Dominguez Hills slowly pulled away by claiming five straight points and eight of the last 12 to even up the match. They continued that trend at the start of the third set by grabbing a 12-6 lead to start the frame and never looked back as they went up 2-1 in the match.

Finding themselves in a 2-1 hole the Cougars fought back to force a decisive final set with a victory in the fourth stanza. Despite being down 18-14, Azusa Pacific rallied as they used a 6-2 scoring spurt to tie the score at 20-20. However, the Toros took the lead at 21-20 and again at 22-21 but an undaunted Cougars squad closed out the set by winning four of the final five points to force a decisive fifth set. 

Dominguez Hills forced the Cougars into an early timeout early in the final frame by scoring seven of the first 11 points. Unfortunately for Azusa Pacific the Toros increased their lead to 10-5 but that's where the fun stopped for Dominguez Hills. The Toros offense committed five hitting errors down the stretch as a 10-1 scoring stretch to end the match was exclamated by an Utke kill, clinching the match for the Cougars. 

The Cougars spread the ball around during their 54-kill afternoon. Utke led the way with 12 kills while Crouse chipped in an 11-kills performance.

The back row duo of Kam (14 digs) and Ashley Swatek (13) aided in the season's first win.