ST. GEORGE, Utah – Playing their second road league contest in four days, Azusa Pacific dropped a nip-and-tuck battled to Dixie State 3-1 (21-25, 25-23, 25-23, 30-28) on Saturday afternoon.
The loss drops the Cougars record to 7-6 overall and 3-2 in PacWest Conference matches. Dixie State, who reach the NCAA Championships Sweet 16 last season, improves its record to 7-7 and 4-2 respectively.
The outside attacking efforts of Katy Crouse and Mattie Shelford led the way. Crouse had a match high 15 kills while Shelford notched a 12-kill performance. Crouse recorded a double-double afternoon by digging up 13 Red Storm attack attempts.
Also along the back row, Ashley Swatek had 20 digs while Kristina Kam recorded 20. The setting duo of Ashley Tavera and Jaden Louie had 22 and 21 assists respectively.
In their first set opening winning, the Cougars held Dixie State to a .026 hitting percentage while tallying a .200 mark of its own. Azusa Pacific never trailed in the set and despite the Red Storms efforts to get close, the home team couldn't pull any closer than two points late (20-18). The Cougars won five of the final eight points to jump in front.
Dixie State reversed the roles in the second set as they took the lead early and held on late. Azusa Pacific pulled even at 15-all but the Red Storm surged ahead 24-19. The Cougars proceeded to rattle off four straight points but couldn't get the final critical point to complete the rally as a Krystalyn Sloan kill gave Dixie State the set win and even the match.
Two significant scoring spurts in the in the third frame proved to be the difference as the Red Storm went up 2-1 in the match. After an Ashley Midland kill capped a 6-1 scoring run, the Cougars held a 17-14 lead. However, the home team then won five straight points to force an Azusa Pacific timeout. The Cougars rebounded out of the stoppage and went ahead 22-21 on a Crouse kill. However, the Red Storm were able to reel off four of the last five points to secure the set victory.
The close fourth set could have gone either way as both teams had a chance to seal the win before Dixie State final capitalized in the long stanza. There were six lead changes with the score tied on 17 different occasions. Dixie State had a match point at 24-23 but a Crouse kill fought that off. Azusa Pacific had an opportunity to force a fifth set as they went ahead 25-24 but the home team got a kill from Delayne Daniel. It was the only set point for the Cougars. Dixie State won the set on the fifth opportunity on a kill by Taylor Duryea.
Azusa Pacific will now begin a three-match home against PacWest foe Hawaii Pacific on Wednesday evening.
