SIOUX CITY, Iowa -- Fifth-seeded Azusa Pacific defeated eighth-seeded College of Idaho in 4 sets, 25-17, 21-25, 26-24, 25-19, to complete a perfect 3-match pool play sweep at the 30th Annual NAIA Volleyball National Championship.

Azusa Pacific advances to the single-elimination championship bracket, which begins with Friday morning’s playoff round. The Cougars can earn a quarterfinal berth with a victory over unseeded Indiana Tech in a 10 a.m. Central time matchup to set up a quarterfinal clash with Golden State Athletic Conference rival, fourth-seeded Concordia, a match that would also be played Friday at 5 p.m. Central time.

Sophomore right side hitter Whittany Radcliffe finished with a match-high 16 kills on just 26 attempts, and GSAC Player of the Year, senior outside hitter Jill Baker, contributed 15 kills and a match-high 21 digs. Sophomore middle blocker Amy Alkazin added 10 kills, while fellow sophomore middle blocker Ariel Beetstra turned in a match-high 6 blocks to go with 8 more kills.

After splitting the first 2 sets, Azusa Pacific was backed up against a set-point deficit at 24-22 in the pivotal third set, but Baker provided a huge kill and Beetstra and Krista Brennercombined for back-to-back blocks that gave the Cougars a 26-24 victory.

A Baker solo block in the middle of a 5-point run in the fourth set put the Cougars up by a 17-10 margin, and the Cougars led by at least 4 points the rest of the way en route to clinching the match with a 25-19 win.

With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 27-8 overall, giving the Cougars their highest single-season win total since 1991 and the fourth-highest in the program’s history.

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