FULLERTON, Calif. -- Freshman Jill Baker and the NAIA’s No. 10-ranked Azusa Pacific overcame a 2-game deficit, sweeping the final 3 games to upset No. 6-ranked Missouri Baptist, 27-30, 24-30, 30-25, 32-30, 15-12 Thursday evening in Fullerton. Baker racked up 22 of her season-high 25 kills in the final 4 games to lead the Cougars to their third 5-game victory of the season.

"When we were down by 2 games, I was thinking we had a lot of work to do," said Baker. "We had nothing to lose, especially against a top-ranked team. I definitely knew we could do it, but we needed to minimize our errors. We gave them too many points early in the match. We knew we had to stay on them and keep our game consistent."

Missouri Baptist got out to an early 14-8 lead in the opening game, but the Cougars fought back to tie the game twice, the last time at 26-26. The Spartans scored 4 of the next 5 points to close out the game behind a pair of kills and an ace from Ana Mercado, who led all attackers with 30 kills on 81 attempts.

"We started out tentative at times, but I knew if we were to execute and play our game we would be fine," said Cougar head coach Chris Keife. "Being in a different environment with a very small crowd made it tough for us to get going until we actually needed to."

The Cougars jumped out to a 7-0 lead to start the second game, thanks to a pair of Baker kills and 2 of sophomore Brittany Brown’s team-high 4 aces. However, the Spartans scored 16 of the game’s next 25 points to even the game at 16-16, the first of 4 ties in the game. With the game tied at 23-23, Missouri Baptist used a 7-1 run aided by 5 Azusa Pacific attack errors to clinch a 30-24 win and a 2-game lead in the match.

"Every game is a new game, and we could only worry about the present," said Brown "We try to play with the same consistency throughout games, but we needed to wake up because we should have been playing better."

Game 3 began in a deadlock, featuring ties at each point up to 10-10, and the teams were knotted at 15-15 after a rally-saving pass from Brown over the net fell untouched in the middle of the Spartan side of the court. Missouri Baptist took the next 3 points, but junior Brianne Huff registered 3 of her 15 kills to bring the game back to a deadlock at 19-19. The Cougars used a 7-1 run to take control of the game and cruise to a 30-25 Game 3 win.

"We thought we had been the better team, even after the first 2 games," said Huff, who also collected 7 digs. "We felt like we needed to keep playing in control and not let anything they did affect our game, and we just came out stronger as the match went on."

Mercado, who had racked up 19 kills through the first 3 games alone, started the fourth game with her 20th kill of the night to spark Missouri Baptist to a 5-2 lead. The Cougars came right back, ripping off an 11-4 run to seize momentum and claim a 13-9 lead following 3 straight kills from Baker. The advantage stayed with Azusa Pacific through another 4-point lead at 21-17 when the Spartans stormed back again, this time with a 7-2 swing that gave Missouri Baptist a 24-23 lead with an opportunity to put the match away without going to a fifth game. With the Cougars trailing 29-27, the Spartans committed 3 errors in their next 4 attacks, and Baker took advantage of the opportunity, putting down consecutive kills out of a 30-30 tie to send the match to a fifth game.

"We have tried to program our team to be stable throughout the match," said Keife. "I knew we could compete with them if we just had a little more energy on the floor."

As the entire match had gone, Game 5 remained tight, with ties at 9 of the first 11 points, and Baker and senior Chelsea Morgan continued to answer nearly every Mercado kill, almost point for point until an 11-11 tie. Mercado tallied points for the Spartans with 5 kills in the game, and Morgan and Baker had 3 kills apiece in return. Huff sparked a 3-point burst with a kill that was followed by consecutive Spartan hitting errors, then sealed the victory with a final kill to the middle of the Spartan floor for the 15-12 win.

"When I saw the set go up to me, I looked at the block and saw that they were going to be split," said Huff. "I knew that I could hit it right between the split. Allison (Kincheloe) gave me a great set, so I didn’t have to do much to put it where I wanted it."

Mercado’s 30 kills were tops in the match, but so were her 18 errors and 81 attempts, and the Azusa Pacific back row featured 5 different players with double digits in digs. Brown led the way with 23 digs, her fifth 20-dig match of the season, and sophomore setter Allison Kincheloe posted 17 digs to go with 60 assists. The trio of Baker, junior Alison Pattison and sophomore Laura Stiles each added 10 digs for the Cougars.

"Defensively, we played pretty well," said Keife. "I thought we did a great job as a unit limiting the kills she (Mercado) had."

Missouri Baptist featured a hard-working defense of its own, led by a 34-dig performance from Tracey Abell and an 11-block effort from Brittany Lukasek.

With the win, Azusa Pacific improves to 14-2 on the season, while Missouri Baptist falls to 15-3. The Cougars face another foe with a top 10 ranking when they resume Golden State Athletic Conference play at No. 4-ranked Concordia Sept. 30.