AZUSA, Calif. – The Cougars ran into the buzzsaw that is Point Loma, falling in straight sets (25-21, 25-18, 25-19) in their home finale Thursday evening inside the Felix Event Center.  Before the match, the Cougars honored the eight seniors on the team who were playing their final home match.

How It Happened:  The Cougars fought tooth and nail throughout a first set that featured 11 ties.  Back-to-back Annaka Jorgenson kills gave the home team an early 4-2 lead, but the Sea Lions would quickly answer and at 8-8, the real story of the match asserted itself with the first Point Loma block of the evening, with Anna Massari involved in the first of what would be 10 blocks for her by evening's end.  The lead bounced between the two teams multiple times until the score was tied at 21-21, at which point Point Loma won four straight points to claim the set.

The Cougars were able to take advantage of a series of Sea Lion errors to open the second set, winning six consecutive points to take a 9-4 lead.  Unfortunately, that's when the Sea Lions showed everyone why they have already clinched the PacWest regular season title, going on a furious 12-2 run to assume control of the set.  The teams traded 10 consecutive sideouts from there, and Point Loma was able to finish off the set for a 2-0 lead.

The Cougars' offense was stellar in the first half of the set, stringing together five consecutive kills to take a 5-3 lead, then four in a row that included a hat trick by Katelyn Sonnier to take their largest lead of the set at 11-7.  But Point Loma was even hotter, going on a 7-2 run to take the lead and never trailing again, racking up 19 kills in the final set without an error to complete the sweep.

By the Numbers:  Seniors Jorgenson and Kyra Palmbush tied for the team lead with 9 kills apiece.  Jorgenson enters the final game of her career one kill shy of fifth all-time on the PacWest career list at 1,533.  Maggie Nielsen had 17 assists in her final home game, taking her career total to 2,038 in that category.  Jorgenson led the defensive effort with 14 digs on the evening.  The Cougars hit .180 for the match, while the Sea Lions in turn hit a blistering .345.  This is Point Loma's third consecutive victory over Azusa Pacific, though the Cougars still lead the overall series, 51-46.

Up Next:  Azusa Pacific (17-10, 14-5 PacWest) will close out the season on Saturday evening against their archrival Biola, looking to capture a crucial five points in this year's Cornerstone Cup battle.  First serve inside Chase Gymnasium is set for 12:00 noon, and the match can be streamed HERE.