AZUSA, Calif. – After cruising early in the match Azusa Pacific was pushed before sweeping past Notre Dame de Namur 3-0 (25-17, 25-13, 25-23) on Friday evening.

It was the sixth straight win for the Cougars as they put together a complete match. Azusa Pacific spread the offense around as five players had at least five kills en route to the team tallying a .274 hitting percentage.

The duo of Crystal Dedes and Mattie Shelford led the way as they each had nine kills while hitting .571 and .389 respectively. Ashley Midland was just as on point by recording seven kills and a .700 hitting mark.

"The girls steps up and put the ball away when they were given the opportunity," head coach Chris Keife said of the Cougars offense. "The first factor in having a high hitting percentage is passing the ball well and that is what is happening now. All of our hitters are available when we pass well."

Leading the back row passing efforts was the tandem of Katy Crouse and Ashley Swatek as they recorded 15 and 12 digs respectively. Kristina Kam was also pin point with her passing as she tallied eight digs.

The Cougars jumped out to a 6-0 lead in the opening frame and never looked back. During their first set domination Azusa Pacific tallied a .316 team hitting mark as Joy Reinke and Crystal Dedes each had four kills. Reinke registered a kill on all but one of her five swings.

Azusa Pacific took a 10-2 lead in the blink of an eye and never had a substantial threat against their lead in the second set. The Argonauts got their deficit down to five points but never any closer as the home team cruised to a 2-0 lead in the match. The Cougars offense was even more effective in the set as they hit .419 (14 kills, 1 error, 31 attempts) led by Ashley Midland's perfect 4-for-4 attack efforts. Mattie Shelford was also pristine (3-for-3) while Dedes had four kills on six swings.

Notre Dame de Namur took their first lead of the match when they won the opening points of the third set. They jumped ahead by winning seven of the stanza's first 10 points which forced the Cougars into a timeout. Azusa Pacific rallied and got within 8-6 but the Argonauts put their foot on the gas. Notre Dame de Namur went on an 8-3 scoring spurt to stretch their lead to 16-9 and force the home team into their final timeout. Azusa Pacific began to chip away at their disadvantage. As quickly as the Cougars got behind they went in front 22-20. With the set tied at 23-23, the Cougars won the final two points on an Argonauts attack error then a kill by Mattie Shelford.

In the setback Biana Alvarez had 51 attempts and a match best 16 kills to pace the Argonauts attack.