AZUSA, Calif. – It took until the 24th set of the season for the Cougars to finally drop one, but they remain perfect on the season with a straight set sweep of Justice before taking down former GSAC foe Hope International in four sets.
Match One: AZUSA PACIFIC 3, Justice 0 (25-11, 25-20, 25-13)
The Cougars won the first six points of the match and never looked back in turning aside the Lions. Brynja Martin was the story of the opening set, as the senior outside hitter took advantage of a spot start and putting up six kills in the first. The reserves continued to get their chance to make their marks on the stat sheet in the second as Abby McGuyre and Elayna Hess combined for five kills and a pair of block assists to help the Cougars pull away late, winning seven of the last ten points to claim a two-set lead.
More Cougars were given the chance to step up in the third, and answering the bell was Victoria Miller, who had three kills and a block in the final set, while Sarah Wilson added five kills, including on match point. Wilson (11) and Martin (10) reached double figures in kills, Flora Sebestyen had a team-high 12 digs, and the front line combined for 8 blocks, with credit split among 11 different Cougars.
Match Two: AZUSA PACIFIC 3, Hope International 1 (25-20, 25-21, 17-25, 25-23)
The Cougars took advantage of a series of Royal errors to string together a 12-3 run that gave them control of the opening set. Ultimately, a Wilson kill put the set away after the Royals had closed the gap to three. Wilson would have three kills early in the second to help the Cougars to a 5-1 lead, followed by three kills in a four-point stretch from Janelle Loewen to keep the home team in possession of a narrow lead. Azusa Pacific would stretch its lead to as much as 23-17 before a late Hope International run to cut the deficit to just two, but again, a Wilson kill would claim the set.
Back-to-back aces from Sebestyen helped the Cougars jump out to an 11-6 lead in the third, and it looked like yet another sweep was on. But the visiting Royals had other ideas, putting together a 16-3 run to finish the set and force the Cougars into a fourth for the first time all season. And after a pair of aces of their own gave the Royals a 10-4 lead in the fourth, it looked like the match might even go the distance. But momentum switched one final time, with the Cougars taking seven of the next nine points to level the set, and once they went ahead at 13-12, they never trailed again, and while the set would be tied one last time at 22-all, the Cougars took three of the final four points to run their record to 8-0.
Wilson had 15 kills to lead the offense in this second win of the day, while freshman Taylor Klatt had a breakout performance with 9 kills and 5 block assists. Jackie Winfield had three of the Cougars' eight aces in the game, while Sebestyen put up a career-high 29 digs.
Up Next: Having set a school record by winning the first 23 sets of the year, the Cougars are 8-0, off to their best start since the 2011 team set the program mark by starting the season with 13 consecutive wins in their final NAIA campaign. Azusa Pacific will look to close in on that record when they head to Phoenix next weekend. They will play Ottawa (AZ) at 11:00 a.m. on Friday before visiting Benedictine-Mesa at 4:00 p.m.
