GLENDALE, Ariz. – Azusa Pacific's Acrobatics and Tumbling team kicked off its tenth season in fine fashion, generating seven scores of 9.9 or better and winning 19 out of 20 heats in a 276.285-228.600 road win at Arizona Christian.

Azusa Pacific (1-0) came out of the gate with a four-point edge in the compulsory event, highlighted by a 9.9 in the toss heat.  The Cougars would slowly build on that advantage throughout the evening, as they would score at least 29 out of a possible 30 points in each of the next three events (acro, pyramid, and toss).  Arizona Christian would match the Cougars score on only one event, registering a 9.55 in the 7-element acro heat, but the Cougars would stretch their advantage to six points after the acro event.

The Cougars' best event of the evening was the pyramid event, with all three heats putting up a 9.90 (out of a possible 10) and building a lead of almost eight points at intermission at 93.15 to the Firestorm's 85.30.  The Cougars came out firing in the toss event, scoring a fourth consecutive 9.90 in the opening heat en route to a 29.35 score in the event, extending the advantage to double figures heading into the tumbling event.

The six-heat tumbling event is divided into three group tumbling passes and three solo passes, and the Cougars excelled in the solo passes, with Beth Magee putting up a 9.925 on the aerial tumbling pass, and Jessica Gill following that up with another 9.925 on the 6-element pass.  Magee and Gill were each part of three heats in which the Cougars scored a 9.90 or higher on the evening.  In all, the Cougars outscored the Firestorm in the tumbling event 53.575-45.00, giving the visitors an advantage of almost 18 points heading into the team event.  In the team event, the Cougars were already in mid-season form, scoring 100.16 points to remove any doubt about the outcome.  The final 47-point margin is the largest in program history.

Head Coach Colleen Kausrud was proud of the effort her team put forth.  "This was a great first meet for the season.  We felt the team was confident and cohesive.  We look forward to building momentum.  This was a great starting point.  We are starting the season with higher start values than we have ever had, with the goal to execute the skills and score as close to those start values as possible.  The bar has definitely been raised this season and we are looking forward to a very successful season."

The Cougars, who were ranked fourth in the NCATA's preseason coaches' poll, won their opening meet for the third consecutive season and are now 5-5 all-time on opening night.  They will return to the Felix Event Center for their home opener against sixth-ranked Hawai'i Pacific on Tuesday, February 18.