AZUSA, Calif. – Azusa Pacific pushed its best-ever season opening to 16 consecutive wins Tuesday night, but not before withstanding an outstanding effort by the visiting Whittier Poets, as the Cougars prevailed 29-27, 21-25, 26-24, 25-22 inside the Felix Event Center.
Each set was an all-out war. Whittier took an early four-point advantage at 9-5 before Jacey Loewen pulled the Cougars even with three kills in a five-point stretch. The Poets again assumed a four-point lead at 17-13 and would have two set points before the Cougars won the final three points of the set, the last one coming off the Cougars' fifth block of the opening frame.
The second set began with 12 consecutive sideouts before the Poets finally won a point on their own serve. The set remained close, neither team leading by more than three, before Whittier strung together a 5-1 run to take charge late, eventually taking the set 25-21 while hitting .279 in the set, their best of the night.
In the third, the Cougar offense ran through Sarah Wilson. The Cougars' senior outside hitter had eight kills in the set, and Azusa Pacific needed every last one of them. In a set that saw the score tied on 15 separate occasions, the Cougars were trailing late at 21-23. Coming out of a timeout, Wilson earned kills on two out of three points, with a Mylah Niksa block sandwiched between them, to give the Cougars a set point. The Poets denied it, but consecutive Whittier errors after that handed Azusa Pacific a 2-1 lead on the night.
Whittier would not go quietly in the fourth, as the final set remained close throughout, with the Cougars' largest lead coming at 18-14. The Poets responded with an 8-3 run to briefly take a one-point lead themselves. This time, it was Jackie Winfield coming to the rescue with a pair of kills, including on match point, as the Cougars won the final four points of the match to earn win number 16 on the season.
Wilson had a season-high 22 kills to lead the offense for Azusa Pacific, who also got double-digit contributions in that category from Winfield (13) and Loewen (15). Niksa had 8 kills and 4.5 blocks (1 solo, 7 assists). The Cougars totaled 12 blocks as a team on the evening. Libero Flora Sebestyen had 24 digs, joined in double figures by Wilson (10), Mia Medrano (17) and setter Brooklyn Kostoff (11). Azusa Pacific leads the all-time series against Whittier 11-2, though this was the Poets' first visit to Azusa since 1978.
Now 16-0 on the season and 4-0 against SCIAC opposition, the Cougars will look to continue this streak when they pay a visit to Chapman University on Saturday. First serve in Orange is scheduled for 3:00 p.m.
