AZUSA, Calif. - It took a while, but the Cougars were able to secure the homecoming win in four sets over Westmont, prevailing by three sets to one (25-13, 25-21, 26-28, 25-22) Saturday afternoon inside the Felix Event Center. Westmont had staved off eight match points across the final two sets before Sarah Wilson's 13th kill of the match provided the winning point.

How It Happened: The Cougars jumped out to a 6-1 lead to open the first set and never looked back. The outside hitting tandem of Katelyn Sonnier and Kendyl MacAskill were dominant in the opening phase, and middle blocker Anya Green became more prominent in the offense in the back half of the set, as the Cougars hit .346 and closed the first on a 9-1 run to win going away, 25-13.

Westmont made the remaining three sets much closer. The Warriors jumped out to a 7-4 lead in the second, but the set remained close throughout as the teams went through nine ties and three lead changes before the Cougars took the lead for good. Sonnier had two blocks and a kill to key a decisive 7-3 run by Azusa Pacific down the stretch before Amanda Albertini got the kill on set point to hand the Cougars a two sets to none lead.

Again, the Cougars found themselves slightly behind for a large portion of the third set, trailing by as much as five points at 15-10. At that point, a MacAskill kill set off a 12-2 run that put the Cougars on the verge of a sweep.  Indeed, the Cougars would get to match point at 24-19. But Westmont rallied, fending off six match points in the set in all and eventually securing consecutive blocks to send the match to a fourth set.

In the fourth, it was Azusa Pacific who took an early lead, courtesy of a 4-0 run that featured two kills by Albertini. Again, the Warriors rallied, taking the lead with a 6-0 run of their own and eventually taking a 16-13 advantage. But the Cougars were in no mood to see what a fifth set would bring, unleashing an 11-4 run to again come to the brink of winning the match. On the third attempt this set (and ninth overall), Wilson put one away from the back row to finish off the match.

By the Numbers: MacAskill led the way for the Cougar attack with 15 kills, but five different Cougars had at least 9. Also in double figures were Wilson with 13 and Green with 12. Wilson made it a double-double, as she tied libero Mia Medrano for the team high in digs with 16. Makayla Chiechi served up four aces in the back line, while the front line had 10 blocks in the contest, with MacAskill and Sonnier each producing two solo blocks.  As a team, the Cougars hit .262 for the match. The Cougars have won 20 matches in a row against Westmont, and now lead the overall series 49-34.

Up Next: Azusa Pacific (12-7, 8-4 PacWest) will have a week to prepare for their next match, as they will next host Concordia in the Felix Event Center on Saturday, November 2. First serve is scheduled for 1:00 p.m.