AZUSA, Calif. -- Azusa Pacific defeated Northwest Nazarene in straight sets (25-23, 25-15, 25-14) to open the SoCal Freeway Challenge on Thursday morning. The game is the first of four matches this weekend for the Cougars.

Kyra Palmbush turned in a dominant performance, notching 12 kills with a hitting percentage of .393. Katarina Radisic finished with a game-high 15 kills. Maggie Nielsen distributed 25 assists without an error throughout the match, and Mina Andjelkovic chipped in 18 as well. Defensively, the Cougars had 12 blocks, led by four total for Palmbush (one solo). Bailey Henington picked up 27 digs, while Annaka Jorgenson and Radisic had 12 apiece. 

How it Happened: The first set was the most competitive of the match, with the Cougars holding on for a 25-23 lead. Azusa Pacific held its largest lead of 14-6 in the set when the Nighthawks fought back with an 8-1 run to draw within a point at 15-14. The Cougars pushed the lead back up to three, but Northwest Nazarene closed the gap and eventually tied the score at 19-19. A few points later at 20-20, Radisic delivered consecutive kills to put the Cougars up 22-20. Off two attack errors from the Cougars, the Nighthawks were able to draw even again at 22, but Radisic once again struck with consecutive kills to put the hosts up at 24-22. After a Nighthawk point made it 24-23, Radisic registered her seventh kill of the opening frame to clinch a 25-23 set victory.

The Cougars never trailed in the second set, and the two sides were tied just once, at 1-1. With the score at 12-9 in favor of Azusa Pacific, the Cougars racked up seven unanswered points, led by three kills by Jorgenson, to take a commanding 19-9 lead. The Cougars would lead by as much as 11 on two occasions, and the closest the Nighthawks would get was eight (23-15). An Ioanna Georgatzi kill sealed the set and 2-0 match lead for the Cougars.

With the momentum fully on the Cougars' side, Azusa Pacific raced out to a quick 10-0 lead in the third set and would maintain a cushion of nine or more through the remainder of the frame. The Cougars secured the match with a 25-14 third set victory. Of the Cougars' 25 points, 17 came via a kill, led by Palmbush and Radisic who combined for 10 with five apiece.  

By the Numbers: The Cougars finished with a total of 50 kills and a .230 hitting percentage, compared to just 31 kills and a .101 hitting percentage for the Nighthawks. In the service game, the Cougars finished with three aces. At no point in the contest did Azusa Pacific trail on the scoreboard.   

Up Next: This afternoon, the Cougars (2-3) will face Stanislaus State at 3:00 pm in a neutral site match that will be played at Cal State Dominguez Hills. Stanislaus State enters the contest with a 3-1 record, as the Warriors have played all four of their games against PacWest opponents. Stanislaus State has defeated Fresno Pacific, Academy of Art and Dominican, while its lone loss was to Holy Names. To watch the match, click here.