AZUSA, Calif. – Last season, the Chaminade University women's volleyball team overwhelmed Azusa Pacific at the Felix Event Center by holding a block party with a school-record 14 total team blocks
This time around, the Cougars had the last laugh.
Returning to the scene, Azusa Pacific put down 10 total team blocks and overcame several Silverswords leads in its 18-25, 25-20, 25-18, 28-26 win Wednesday.
The 'Swords were held to a season-low .139 attack percentage as they fell to 7-6 overall and 1-3 in the Pacific West Conference, despite an 18-kill, eight-block effort from
Daisia LaBrie.
APU, which had played its first 12 matches away from the Felix Event Center, got 11 kills from Julianne Miller and 10 from Aliyah Morrison to improve to 6-7 and 2-2.
Emma Tecklenburg put down nine kills for Chaminade while
Cassie Rushlow added seven and five blocks.
Kim Spring had six kills and 13 digs.
Natashya Enos had 30 assists while
Waihilo Chartrand set a career-high with 23 digs.
In the first set, the 'Swords used a 7-2 run to turn a 13-all score into a 21-13 lead. Rushlow accounted for five of the Silverswords' final seven points to take a 1-0 lead.
In the second set, it was APU's turn with a late spurt to turn around a tie game as three Chaminade hitting errors helped the Cougars swing a 15-15 set to a 21-17 advantage to square the match.
In the pivotal third set, APU took a 2-1 lead by out-pointing Chaminade 10-4 although the 'Swords managed to rally from down 11-6 early in the frame.
The Silverswords seemed to right the ship to begin the fourth set. Taking advantage of several Cougar errors, the 'Swords jumped out to a 6-0 lead. But APU used runs of 5-1 and 7-2 to rally back and take a 12-10 advantage. Chaminade managed to stave off the storm and rallied back, and twice, served to force a fifth set. But the Cougars had a response each time. A Silversword serving error followed by an APU ace ended the match.
Chaminade continues its road trip Thursday when it faces 13-1 Concordia.
