RIVERSIDE, Calif. – Down to the wire the rivals went.
Looking to win their first road match against California Baptist since the 2012 season, Azusa Pacific threatened until the end before the Lancers posted a 3-2 (17-25, 25-22, 25-22, 17-25, 15-10) win on Wednesday evening.
Julianne Miller continued her stellar freshman season with a 16-kill, .438-hitting percentage evening. It is her team leading 10th double digit kill match. Madison Ogas (12) and Aliyah Morrison (10) also produced double figure kill matches.
Among the specialty players Shaylah Kagehiro set her career high with a 28-assist night. She nearly posted a double-double with nine digs. Along the back row, libero Bailey Henington had a team best 17 digs.
The Cougars took the opening set with a solid offensive performance while taking advantage of the home team's miscue. Azusa Pacific hit .286 as a team with just three hitting errors while the Lancers made nine attack errors and tallied a .061 hitting mark. Azusa Pacific took a 9-9 score then rattled off 11 of the next 15 points to all but seal the opening stanza.
California Baptist responded strongly in the second frame. They stormed out to an 11-4 lead and while the Cougars were able to pull within two points at 20-18 and 22-20 they couldn't overcome their early deficit. The Lancers responded from their slow first set as they hit .333 as a team to knot the match up at a set each.
A tightly contested third frame went the Lancers way thanks, in large part, to a critical scoring spurt at the midway point. With Azusa Pacific clinging to a 12-11 edge, the home team went on an 8-3 scoring spurt to take a four-point edge. The Cougars responded as best they could but couldn't pull any closer than two points as California Baptist took a 2-1 lead in the match.
The young Cougars squad reached deep and battled hard in the fourth set. After dropping the opening point, Azusa Pacific never trailed. They kept at least a three point lead throughout as they forced the preseason PacWest favorite's into a winner-take-all set in their home gym.
During the final frame, the teams traded points in the early going but a late scoring run sealed the win for the home team. With Azusa Pacific holding a 9-8 lead, the Lancers scored seven of the matches last eight points to maintain their second place position in the league standings.
Azusa Pacific returns home for a Saturday match against Holy Names at 3 p.m.
