AZUSA, Calif. – As more and more students in their Zu shirts entered the Felix Event Center, Azusa Pacific just continued to hit their stride. With a packed house and a nearly flawless performance, the Cougars defeated Biola 3-0 (25-15, 25-22, 25-20) to earn their sixth consecutive win.

The win marked their sixth sweep of the season as Azusa Pacific improves to 8-3 overall and sit atop the Conference standings with a 4-0 record in PacWest play.

It was also the Cougars' first Cornerstone Cup win of the new school year as they snapped a four-game losing streak against the Eagles. While Azusa Pacific trails 39-46 all-time against Biola, they do improve to 23-18 on their home court. The latest win marks the 85th time the two teams have faced off, dating all the way back to 1955.

Delaney Tate lit up the night with 16 kills, no errors, and a season-best .400 hitting percentage. With 155 kills this season, she now leads the conference. Brooklyn Kostoff handled most of the setting, contributing 24 assists along with two service aces and nine digs.

On defense, Mia Medrano recorded a team-high 16 digs, while Anya Green and Sarah Wilson added two blocks apiece.

How It Happened: The start of the first set remained pretty even until the crowd got rowdier and the Cougars got hot. A kill from Katelyn Sonnier inspired a nine-point scoring run, which featured five attacking errors from Biola. Up 16-10 the Eagles were ankle to side out but gave up possession just a point later as the Cougars scored another four points in a row.

With chants echoing through the packed Felix Event Center, the Cougars stayed calm and composed as Tate threw down a monstrous kill to secure the set in commanding fashion, 25-15.

In the second set, Biola started to adapt to the pressure and the rowdiness of the Zu. The action was back and forth until the Eagles scored four straight kills, taking a 13-11 lead. After head coach Chris Keife called a timeout, the team regrouped and went on to score five consecutive points, taking back the lead 16-13.

While the Eagles continued to fight back, the Cougars held onto their lead for the rest of the set, ultimately sealing the set with a powerful strike from Anya Green to win 25-22.

To start the third set, the Cougars quickly earned the first three points and maintained the lead for most of the set. Although they trailed midway through, their deficit never exceeded two points for the entire set. Down 17-19, Tate scored both the first and last points of an 8-1 run, clinching a 25-20 victory and completing a 3-0 sweep of Biola.

By the Numbers: For the second game in a row, the Cougars had just seven errors across the three sets, tying their season-low. Meanwhile, the Eagles had 18 errors, finishing the night with a .201 hitting percentage compared to Azusa Pacific's .281. The Cougars also dominated at the net, finishing with six total blocks while the Eagles had just one block.

Quotable: "Anytime you play your rival, it's going to be good energy from the crowd and both teams are going to be ready to play and today was no different. Good energy from the crowd…I think both teams played really clean, good rallies and good volleyball overall. We're just trying to find us still and continue to get better day by day and that's the mentality that this team has thinking 'where can we get better' and sustaining that as long as we can." - Head coach Chris Keife

Up Next: The Cougars will finish their busy week with a game at Concordia on Saturday at 5 p.m., wrapping up their fourth match in seven days. They will then enjoy a brief four-day break before continuing with the rest of Conference play with a matchup against nationally ranked Point Loma in San Diego next Thursday.