AZUSA, Calif. – All was looking great until it wasn't anymore.
Concordia stormed back from a 0-2 hole to post a five-set (20-25, 21-25, 25-21, 25-22, 15-12) victory against Azusa Pacific.
The young Cougars are still looking for some fifth-set magic this season as they fell to 1-5 in matches that go the distance. Azusa Pacific's record now stands at 6-9 overall with a 2-4 mark in PacWest contest. Concordia raises their record to 15-1 and 5-1 respectively.
Natalie Klapp led the way for the Cougars with a 14-kill, 13-dig afternoon. It was the sophomore's seventh double-double of the season. Ally Gonzalez (11) and Sara Wagenveld (10) also had double figure kill efforts from a well-rounded attack. Azusa Pacific had six players with at least eight kills.
Shaylah Kagehiro also had a double-double by handing out 21 assists and digging up 14 balls. Bailey Henington tied for match high honors with 23 digs while Danika Young notched a 26-assist day to round out the specialty players for the home squad.
Concordia's Rachel Flynn had a match 21 kills while tallying 17 digs.
With a solid hitting effort and taking advantage of Eagle miscues, the Cougars claimed the first set. Azusa Pacific had nine kills and a .259 hitting percentage while Concordia had 13 total errors. The Cougars inched ahead early as they took a knotted score (6-6) and grew that to a 16-9 lead. Concordia pulled within two points (21-19) but never closer as Klapp tooled an Eagle block effort to seal the first frame.
Despite trailing 14-8, Azusa Pacific mounted a comeback to take a two set lead in the contest. The Cougars took the lead for good when Young dumped a set on the second hit to give her team a 19-18 edge. Concordia's third service error of the frame ended the set.
Concordia jumped out to a 7-1 lead and held off the Cougars the rest of the third set to stay alive in the match. Azusa Pacific pulled with three points at 17-14 but couldn't narrow the gap as the Eagles closed the set on an Ellie Ladensack kill.
A tit-for-tat fourth set ensued as each team tried to claim the stanza. As the teams sided out points a majority of the way, Concordia used a late spurt to sure up the victory. Tied at 22-22, the key point came when Rachel Flynn served up a great laser down the left line for the ace. Concordia won the following points off of Hannah Andrew kills.
Concordia completed the comeback by starting strong in the final set. The visitors held a 4-0 lead and forced a Cougar timeout. Azusa Pacific slowly inched their way back into the frame. They pulled with one point twice (12-11 and 13-12) but couldn't complete the fifth set revival.
The Cougars will look to regroup on Wednesday, Oct. 5 when they concluded this four-match home stand against Point Loma.
