AZUSA, Calif. – The Cougars are certainly enjoying the final portion of their schedule.
Azusa Pacific stretched its winning streak to four with a 3-2 (16-25, 26-24, 25-16, 22-25, 15-11) win against Dixie State.
After some early season struggles the Cougars have continued to power through the year as they move above the .500 mark for the first time at 14-13 overall. Azusa Pacific is 10-8 in PacWest matches. The win ends a five-match losing streak to the Trailblazers and evens the all-time series at five wins for each team.
With two matches left in the season the Cougars are hoping to extend their winning streak to the longest it has been since early in 2015 when they won seven consecutive matches.
In Saturday's win Ally Gonzalez pieced together another fine effort with a team best 18 kills while hitting .342. Julianne Miller (13) and Madison Ogas (12) each added double figure kill efforts.
Ashley Midland and Aliyah Morrison added a great blocking afternoon with six and five total blocks respectively.
The opening set saw Dixie State roll to a convincing win with a strong offense effort. The Trailblazers hit .333 as a team and took advantage of nine Cougar attack errors in taking the early lead. Azusa Pacific shrugged aside a rough opening set as they raced out to an 11-6 lead in the second frame. After a Miller kill the home team held a seemingly comfortable 21-15 edge. However, Dixie State responded by reeling off nine of the next 12 points to tie the score at 24-24. Despite not converting on their first set point, Azusa Pacific won the frame after back-to-back kills from Aliyah Morrison and Ogas.
In the third set the squads traded points early until the Cougars took control at the midway point. Already holding a 14-13 lead, Azusa Pacific cruised the remainder of the frame. The Cougars won 11 of the last 14 points – bolstered by eight kills – to take a commanding lead. During that set the home team hit .324.
It looked as if the fourth set was a formality as the Cougars jumped out to an 11-5 lead. However, the Trailblazers had different intentions as they forced a fifth set. Dixie State picked themselves up off the mat, tied the score at 21-21, before eventually closing out the stanza.
Down 5-3 in the fifth set, Azusa Pacific rattled off nine straight points, with four points coming off strong blocking by Midland, Morrison and Ogas. At that point Azusa Pacific's 12-5 lead was too much for the defending PacWest champions to overcome.
