SAN RAFAEL, Calif - For the first time in two weeks, Azusa Pacific volleyball returned to the court on Monday evening, and the Cougars defeated Dominican on the road in straight sets, to win their fifth straight and 11th of their last 12 matches. The victory improves Azusa Pacific's record to 14-4 overall and 9-1 in PacWest play. The Cougars lead the all-time series against Dominican by a 16-2 margin.
Annaka Jorgenson led the Cougar offense with 12 kills, while
Kyra Palmbush followed with 11 and
Katarina Radisic delivered five. Palmbush finished the match with a .526 hitting percentage over 19 attempts, her second best performance of the season thus far, while Jorgenson finished with a .310 hitting percentage over 29 attempts.
Maggie Nielsen delivered for the Cougars on two fronts, collecting 32 assists, tying her season-best, and defensively tabbing 12 digs.
Bailey Henington also collected 12 digs on the backline, putting her at 369 digs on the season and 2,366 for her career.
How It Happened: Abby Hills started off the first set with a kill, allowing the Cougars to take the quick 1-0 lead. The Penguins then stole the lead back at 3-2, but Azusa Pacific was able to respond and take four points in a row to go up 6-4. The Penguins attempted to recover, but the Cougars did not surrender their advantage for the rest of the set. Azusa Pacific found itself with a 18-9 lead, and it eventually ended the match collecting four straight points to earn a 25-13 victory.
In the second set, the Cougars fell behind on the first point before evening the score at 1-1 off of a service error by the Penguins. Once the Cougars went ahead 2-1 in the set, they never surrendered the lead. The best stretch of the set for Azusa Pacific was an 8-0, which made it 13-4. The Penguins were able to pull within three on a few occasions, but the Cougars would not allow Dominican any closer. The Cougars claimed the set two victory by a score of 25-16.
The third set favored the Cougars through all 25 points, as they maintained the advantage from the first point on.
Jaela Bernard opened the set with a kill, and two Dominican miscues made it 3-0. The Penguins pulled within one at 9-8, but the Cougars would not fold, creating a 15-12 lead, via five kills between Bernard, Jorgenson and Palmbush. Azusa Pacific was able to close out the set with a kill from Jorgenson, assisted by Nielsen, for a final set score of 25-16 which closed the book on the match.
By the Numbers: After a twelve day span of not playing, the Cougars hit for .478 with only one attack error in their first set back. The Cougars showed few signs of rust throughout the entirety of the match, as Azusa Pacific finished the match with an overall hitting percentage of .306, committing only nine attack errors, which is the second-fewest this season. In the service game, the Cougars collected three aces and defensively, Azusa Pacific recorded 50 digs.
Up Next: Tomorrow, Azusa Pacific will wrap up its trip to the Bay as it faces Holy Names, a team that the Cougars beat 3-0 (25-21, 25-23, 25-11) at home in September. On Friday, November 5th, the Cougars will be back at the Felix Event Center as they face off against Point Loma in a key PacWest match. It will be the Cougars' first home match since September 29.
