AZUSA, Calif. – For the second straight season, the Azusa Pacific volleyball sits atop the throne of the PacWest conference. The Cougars clinched their second consecutive conference title on Wednesday night, as they beat Concordia in five sets.

The Eagles gave Azusa Pacific all it could handle through those five sets, as the Cougars took a 2-0 match lead before Concordia won the third and fourth set to force a fifth and deciding set. While Azusa Pacific won the first two sets, the Eagles held a lead as large as four points in each of the first four sets of the match.

The momentum of the match swung heavily into Concordia's favor in the fourth set, as the Eagles surged ahead to a 7-1 lead. The Cougars made a few small runs, but Concordia maintained the advantage and pushed the margain up to 22-14. Though the Cougars were unable to win the fourth set, they were able to take some momentum back with an 8-3 run to close out the fourth and make the Eagles nervous with a 25-22 set victory.

Azusa Pacific took the energy from the end of fourth set into the fifth and final frame, as the Cougars never trailed in the set and won by an eight point margin, 15-7.

"Concordia is a very good defensive team," said head coach Chris Keife, "they really made things uncomfortable for us on offense tonight and it showed. We had to battle to win this one and we were fortunate to do so."

The Cougars were lifted by a huge performance from senior Sara Wagenveld. Wagenveld finished the match with 17 kills on 30 attempts, posting a .533 hitting percentage. Defensively, she had two solo blocks and one block assist.

Wagenveld was joined in double-digit kills by sophomore Katarina Radisic (18 kills) and freshman Annaka Jorgenson (12 kills). Jorgenson also had two solo blocks in the match. Two other key performers for the Cougars were junior Bailey Henington and senior Julianne Miller. Henington had 29 digs and three service aces, while Miller had a team-high five blocks to go along with eight kills.

Miller, the all-time leader in total blocks in the PacWest conference, moved up in the Azusa Pacific history books. She is now 5^th all-time in total blocks (442) and blocks assists (362), as well as 11^th all-time in solo blocks (80).

With the victory and conference title, Azusa Pacific has clinched a berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament for the third consecutive season. The Cougars will await their first-round matchup, as the Selection Show will be on Monday, November 25 at 4:30 p.m. (PT).

However, the Cougars have one more regular season match to prepare for postseason competition. "This will be a valuable game for us," said Coach Keife, "since we know we will be in the Tournament but do not know our opponent, Friday's match is a great opportunity for us to just focus on ourselves and how we need to be playing heading into the postseason."

Azusa Pacific will welcome Fresno Pacific to the Felix Event Center on Friday, November 22 at 6:00 p.m. The game will be the final home match for three outstanding seniors. Julianne Miller, Aliyah Morrison and Sara Wagenveld will take the court for the final time in the Felix Event Center. A pregame ceremony will recognize these student-athletes for their contributions and accomplishments as members of the Cougar volleyball program.