AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific had its final home meet of the season and put it all together, putting up their highest total score of the year in a 279.75-263.86 victory over Hawai'i Pacific Thursday evening inside the Felix Event Center.  The Cougars took time to honor their seven seniors (Jacie Van de Zilver, Victoria Ho, Madiha Morris, Morgan Wagnitz, Hannah Sadler, McKenna Meyers, and Mikaela Hunter) at the conclusion of the meet, which helped kickoff Homecoming Weekend on campus.

How It Happened:  Facing the Sharks for the second time this month, Azusa Pacific got out to their best start of the season, winning three of the four heats in the compulsory event, highlighted by a 9.95 in the toss heat and a 9.80 in the pyramid heat.  Those results gave the home team a 38.40-38.05 lead after the compulsory event.  In the acro event, Van de Zilver and Morris shone brightly, receiving scores of 9.95 in the 5-element heat and 9.90 in the 7-element, allowing the Cougars to stretch their lead to over a point.  The team kept up the pace with a near-flawless pyramid event, with all three heats scoring at least a 9.85, narrowly winning all three heats and giving Azusa Pacific a 97.05-95.60 lead at halftime.  It was the highest first-half score the Cougars have put up since a 97.35 against Mary Hardin-Baylor last March.

In the second half of the meet, the Cougars again started strong, putting up a 9.80 in the 450 Salto toss and winning two of the three toss heats, again extending their lead by a quarter of a point.  Azusa Pacific would tack nearly another full point onto the lead in the tumbling event, with Van de Zilver closing out her Event Center career with a season-best 9.975 on the 6-element tumbling pass and Sarah Lang following with a 9.875 on the open pass.  The Cougars would complete the evening with a convincing win in the team event, scoring 97 points to pull away for the 16-point win.

By the Numbers:  The Cougars won 16 out of 20 heats on the evening, en route to their fourth consecutive meet win.  Van de Zilver's 9.75 in the 6-element pass will likely qualify her for the event finals in that heat at next month's national championships, to be held at West Liberty University in Wheeling, West Virginia.  Azusa Pacific is now 14-4 all-time against Hawai'i Pacific, including 10 consecutive victories dating back to 2017.  Since the start of the 2019 season, when most of the senior class arrived on campus, the Cougars have a record of 21-9, including 10-4 in the Felix Event Center.

Up Next:  The Cougars (4-2) will head to the road for one final test in the regular season when they visit long-time rival Oregon on April 7.  Start time for the meet at Matthew Knight Arena is set for 6:00 p.m. and can be livestreamed HERE.