AZUSA, Calif. – An attempt to conjure up a second-straight late rally came up just short for the Cougar volleyball team, as they fell in five sets to Point Loma, 20-25, 15-25, 25-16, 25-20, 12-15 Wednesday evening at the Felix Event Center.
Annaka Jorgenson had a team-high 14 kills, while
Kyra Palmbush and
Amy Hinnant each had 11.
How it Happened: After a back-and-forth early stretch, the Sea Lions took control of the first set with a 10-2 scoring run that gave them a seven-point advantage. While the Cougars would claw back within three, they would not trail in the set again, hitting at a blistering .395 percentage for the set. Not satisfied with that run in the first set, Point Loma would rattle off 12 unanswered in the middle of the second set, aided by seven Cougar errors during that run. But after their comeback last Friday at Westmont from two sets down, one could be forgiven for thinking the Cougars had the Sea Lions right where they wanted them.
The comeback effort started after spotting the Sea Lions the first two points of the third set. The Cougars rattled off four points in a row to claim the lead, and would put together a 9-3 run of their own later in the set to take control of the third. The Cougars were dominant on the attack in the middle set, coming up with 18 kills as a team and hitting .314 for the set. It was the defense's turn to carry the load in the fourth set, as the Cougars took the lead with a 6-0 run highlighted by three blocks, each of which involved Palmbush. Azusa Pacific would record five of their nine blocks in the fourth set, eventually taking the set 25-20 to send the match to a winner-take-all fifth set. In a microcosm of the entire match, Point Loma jumped out to a big lead, eventually going ahead 13-5. While the Cougars would deny five match points, the deficit would prove too much to overcome.
Inside the Numbers: Palmbush was a big reason the Cougars came as close as they did to completing the comeback, recording 11 kills and seven blocks, four of them solo blocks.
Emma Svagdis had eight kills off the bench, while in the back row Bailey Hennington notched a game-high 33 digs, joined in double figures in that category by Jorgenson with 23 and
Mina Andjelkovic, who had 13.
Up Next: The Cougars (6-3, 2-3 PacWest Southern California pod) will make one final road trip on Friday down to Orange County when they visit another old NAIA foe in Vanguard. Opening serve in Costa Mesa is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
