AZUSA, Calif. – In a very equal, back and forth battle, Azusa Pacific found themselves on the opposite side of victory this afternoon, falling 2-3 (25-23, 23-25, 28-26, 23-25, 15-10) to Concordia. The fifth-set loss marked the Cougars' fourth loss when the game has gone to five sets this season as they are still looking to find a win in the extra set.

Prior to tonight, the Cougars had found victory against the Golden Eagles in the last three meetings and currently lead the all-time matchup 42-32 against Concordia, dating back to 1988.

Anya Green led the Cougars with a six blocks and a season-best 16 kills across the five sets while finishing with a .412 hitting percentage. Brooklyn Kostoff also earned a career-high 46 assists and even picked up her second block of the season.

How it Happened: Both teams went on multi-point runs to take mini-leads throughout the first set, but neither team was able to pull away by more than five points all set long. Down the stretch, the score was tied 21-21 then 22-22 until the Cougars were able to score three of the last four points to earn the win in the first set, capped off by a demanding kill from Sarah Wilson.

In the second set, the Golden Eagles jumped out to a 4-0 lead then the Cougars later found themselves up 7-6 as they went on a 6-1 scoring run. Concordia would find some momentum themselves as they responded with an 8-1 scoring run of their own to take a demanding 17-10 lead. Although the Cougars remained in it as Katelyn Sonnier put together two kills in their final three points, the Golden Eagles got the best of them, winning 25-23.

Down 5-10 to start the third set, Azusa Pacific rallied, scoring the next five points to tie things up. Despite nine different tied scores, the Cougars found themselves on set point and while the Golden Eagles were able to tie it at 24-24 and 26-26, Sarah Wilson and Amanda Albertini scored on back-to-back kills to earn the set win.

In the fourth set, the Cougars were two points away from winning the match until the Golden Eagles went on a five-point run to take the fourth set and force a fifth and final set.

To start the fifth set, both teams went back and forth, earning no more than two points at a time. Until Concordia earned four points and later three straight points to win the match, 3-2.

By the Numbers: Both teams committed 20+ errors across the five sets however, Concordia had a greater hitting percentage with .208 while the Cougars had a .178 average. 

Up Next: After a two-game road trip up to NorCal with the first game against Menlo on Friday night and Saturday's game against Dominican, Azusa Pacific returns home for a four-game home stretch to finish their season.