OAKLAND, Calif. – The Cougars put together an equally distributed offensive attack as they recorded a 3-2 (27-29, 25-23, 21-25, 25-13, 15-5) victory against Holy Names.

The loss snapped a four-match losing skid for the Azusa Pacific as they evened their record at 13-13 overall and 9-8 in league matches. Azusa Pacific started slowly put by the end they found the right formula in getting the victory.

After posting a .127 team hitting percentage in the opening set, the Cougars improved from there and peaked at the end. In the final two frames Azusa Pacific hitters hit .410 and .368 in the fourth and fifth sets respectively. All told the Cougars had five players record at least 10 kills.

Leading the way was, once again, Mattie Shelford as the senior continues to put an exclamation point on her Azusa Pacific legacy. She found the floor for 20 kills while hitting a solid .366. Natalie Klapp was just as vital to the victory. The freshman was second on the team with 24 digs while recording 11 kills.

Crystal Dedes had her best match of the season with a 13-kill effort. The middle blocker notched a team best .500 hitting mark. Also in the middle Ashley Midland had 11 kills and a .409 hitting percentage.

Alyssa Tavera did a majority of the offensive distribution as they freshman handed out a match high 42 assists in addition to tallying 13 digs. Not to go unnoticed was the efforts of Ashley Swatek, as the libero had a season high 33 digs.

In the opening set the Cougars couldn't close out a 23-20 lead as the Hawks rallied back and never let Azusa Pacific get a set point. Holy Names won the frame on their fourth opportunity. In the second set the Cougars didn't make the same mistake twice although they were pushed to the limit. Leading 20-17, Azusa Pacific saw the home team rally and take a 23-22 lead. However, the Cougars would have none of it and won the final three points after Midland and Joy Reinke kills then a Hawks blocking error.

Holy Names was able to stay just ahead in the third set and held off any Cougar attempts to take the momentum. The final two sets was all Azusa Pacific. The Cougars were never pushed in any manner as they kept the Hawks at bay. As good as the Azusa Pacific offense was in the final two sets, the Hawks hit just .093 as a team in the fourth set then couldn't get into positive numbers in the final frame (-.040)

Azusa Pacific closes out their road swing though the Bay Area tomorrow against Academy of Art