ELLENSBURG, Wash. – With a gutsy 3-2 (25-22, 25-19, 21-25, 22-25, 15-12) win against Central Washington, the Azusa Pacific women's volleyball team improves to 5-0.
It is the first time since the 2012 season the Cougars have started a year with five consecutive wins.
SET BY SET
In the opening set the Cougars offensive clipped along effectively enough 16 kills while limiting the Wildcats to a .087 hitting percentage en route to the match lead. During a back-and-forth second set in which the lead changed hands five time and was 17 times, Azusa Pacific scored five of the last six points to take a seemingly comfortable lead.
The home team did not go quietly. In the third set the hit .345 as a team and overcame an early 8-6 deficit. They took a double-digit lead at 19-17 and never let the Cougars within a single point the rest of the way. Central Washington turned a 14-12 deficit in the fourth set and responded with a 7-1 scoring spurt. The Cougars tied it at 20-20, but couldn't retake the lead.
During the final frame, Central Washington held a 9-7 lead but the Cougars scored eight of the last 10 points to secure the win. During the fifth set win, Azusa Pacific had 12 kills including kills on their last four points.
CAREER HIGH
Madison Ogas led the way with a career high 21 kills. During her first season in a Cougars uniform in 2016 she had 14 kills on four different occasions. She also had 14 digs en route to recording her first double-double of the season after notching a team best 10 last year.
QUOTEABLE
"Both teams battled well. Central Washington is a good team. They make you earn your points and I feel that we passed well and that made a big difference in the outcome. We didn't break down and got the win in large part from the back line," said head coach Chris Keife. "Even though we dropped the third and fourth, to come back in the fifth, really shows that character this team has."
BE WARY POSTSEASON QUALIFIERS
Of the squad's five victories, three of them have now come against teams that qualified for the NCAA Division II West Regional. Last weekend at the Seaside Invitational the Cougars beat Alaska Anchorage (the 2016 West Region Champion) and Simon Fraser.
WEST REGION SHOWCASE
Today was the first of four matches for Azusa Pacific at the West Region Showcase featuring teams from the PacWest, Great Northwest Athletic Conference and the California Collegiate Athletic Association. The format featuring the three conferences in the NCAA Division II West Region. Tomorrow the Cougars play UC San Diego (10:00 a.m.) and Concordia-Portland (5:30 p.m.) before wrapping up Saturday against Stanislaus State (3:00 p.m.).
