Azusa Pacific 3
Embry-Riddle (Ariz.) 0
30-17, 30-21, 30-22

AZUSA, Calif. –- Jenny Brickner and Colleen Walker combined for 20 of Azusa Pacific’s 44 kills as the Cougars needed a little more than an hour to knock off Embry-Riddle (Ariz.), 3-0, Friday evening in Azusa.

With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 10-5. The Cougars have won 7 of their past 9 matches. NAIA Region II-member Embry-Riddle drops to 7-13 overall.

The Cougars overwhelmed the Eagles from the start as they used a 6-1 spurt to turn a 5-4 lead into an 11-5 lead. The Eagles closed to within 12-9 before Azusa Pacific used another big run, this time a 12-3 spurt, to take a 24-12 lead and seemingly take the win from the Eagles’ sails in a 30-17 win. Brickner had 4 of her kills in the opening game and hit 1.000 to give the Cougars a big lift.

Embry-Riddle had game two tied at 6-6 before the Cougars took advantage of a trio of Eagle errors and a Walker kill to open up a 10-6 lead they would not relinquish. The Cougars won game 2, 30-21.

Brickner also finished with a match-high 4 aces, including 3 straight in game 3 that came right after Walker’s ninth kill of the match which stretched a 12-9 Cougar lead into a 16-9 advantage. After a Cougar service error, Walker’s tenth and final kill started a 5-0 Cougar run that ballooned the Cougar lead to 21-10 to put the match away with an eventual 30-16 Cougar win.

Chelsea Morgan finished with 7 kills and 4 blocks. Brianne Huff added 6 kills and a match-high 11 digs. As a team, the Cougars hit .264 (44-16-106) but limited Embry-Riddle to just .010 (23-22-100).