AZUSA, Calif. – The Cougars were throwing the ball down on the hardwood with authority on Friday evening.
Azusa Pacific won their season best third straight match with a convincing 3-0 (25-20, 26-25, 25-11) win against Hawaii Pacific as the offense was nearly unstoppable.
With the victory the Cougars have rallied to the .500 mark with a 13-13 overall record while moving to 9-8 in PacWest contests. Hawaii Pacific falls to 15-10 and 11-5 respectively.
As a team they Cougars easily had their best hitting effort of the season as they tallied a .320 hitting percentage.
Ally Gonzalez was on point for the get go. The junior had a match high 12 kills and hit a spectacular .611 from her outside hitter position. Julianne Miller didn't commit an error on her 12 attack attempts while recording seven kills (.583). Natalie Klapp added a nine-kill, 13-dig effort.
Also providing solid play along the back lines was Bailey Henington as the libero recorded 16 digs.
Using a strong hitting effort, the Cougars won a tight first set with a .484 hitting percentage. Down 17-16, Azusa Pacific made their key scoring spurt late in the frame. The home team scored six of the next seven points and never looked back in taking the early edge.
During the second set Azusa Pacific overcame a 16-11 deficit as they rallied to take a two-set lead in the match. Despite the five point facing them, the home standing Cougars scored nine of the next 11 points to grab a 20-18 lead. However, Hawaii Pacific had a rally of their own up their sleeve and after a Alison McCollum kills they had a set point. Azusa Pacific thwarted off that set point and finish three unanswered point – all of which were Shark errors – to seal the frame.
The final set was all Azusa Pacific. In completing their third straight win, the Cougars hit .379 in the final frame in cruising to the win. Conversely, the Sharks notched just a .088 hitting mark.
