Azusa Pacific continued its undefeated start in PacWest play with a four-set victory over Hawai'i Pacific Wednesday evening in the Felix Event Center. The Cougars took a 2-0 lead in the match, as they pulled away in the first set and dominated the second set.
 
Junior middle blocker Sara Wagenveld led the Cougars with 13 kills, along with seven blocks, and freshman outside hitter Katarina Radisic finished with 12 kills. Junior middle blocker Julianne Miller had 10 kills with only one error, finishing the match with a .529 attack percentage. Senior outside hitter Natalie Klapp finished the match with a team-high 22 digs, and freshman setter Chase Davis led the Cougars with 29 assists and four service aces. Senior setter Kaylen Higa had 20 assists and three aces. Junior opposite Aliyah Morrison contributed six kills on nine attempts (.556), and had three block assists. Freshman opposite Amy Hinnant finished the night with five kills and three block assists.

With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 10-4 overall and is now 6-0 in PacWest play. Hawai'i Pacific falls to 3-8 overall, 2-3 PacWest.

In the first set, Wagenveld and Radisic led the way with four kills each and no errors between the duo. The setting tandem of Higa and Davis combined for 13 assists, and Klapp had six digs.
 
In the second set, the Cougars jumped out to a quick 7-1 lead, and maintained control of the set throughout. Chase Davis served 11 straight points for Azusa Pacific, turning a 10-3 lead into a commanding 21-3 advantage. Sophomore middle blocker Abby Hills finished off Hawai'i Pacific with a kill that gave the Cougars a 25-9 set victory. Wagenveld led the Cougars with six kills on seven attack attempts in the set.
 
Coming into the match, the Cougars had yet to lose a set in conference play, and they extended their streak to 17 straight set victories, but the streak came to an end in the third set of the contest. Despite an early lead for Azusa Pacific, Hawai'i Pacific fought back and tied the set at 7-7. The Sharks scored three straight points and seized momentum for the remainder of the set, forcing a fourth set.
 
Azusa Pacific once again jumped out to an early lead in the fourth set, but Hawai'i Pacific responded and took a 12-8 lead over the Cougars. The Cougars battled back and eventually brought the score even at 17-17, off of a kill from Hinnant. With Davis serving, the Cougars surged ahead to a 21-17 advantage, scoring on a pair of service aces by Davis and two HPU attack errors. The six-point run, which flipped a 17-15 deficit into a 21-17 lead, was all the Cougars needed, as they finished the match with a 25-22 win in the fourth set. Miller collected four kills in the final set.
 
The Cougars have a quick turnaround with a match at home against Chaminade on Thursday, September 20 at 6:00 p.m., wrapping up a seven-match homestand to kick off conference play. Azusa Pacific will travel to the Bay Area for their first road contests of conference play, with games against Notre Dame de Namur (Sept. 28) and Dominican (Sept. 29).