COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The NAIA’s No. 11-ranked Azusa Pacific opened the 2006 NAIA Volleyball Championship with a 30-25, 30-11, 30-28 defeat to top-ranked National American (S.D.) Wednesday afternoon in the first of the Cougars’ 3 matches in pool play.

Azusa Pacific converted its attack opportunities over a .200 clip in 2 games of the match, a mark the Cougars had not achieved in 8 matches against NAIA Top 5 opponents all season. National American, ranked No. 1 for each of the 10 weekly NAIA Coaches Polls in 2006, posted a .307 attack percentage for the match to pick up the 3-game sweep.

Freshman Jill Baker finished with a team-high 9 kills for Azusa Pacific, sophomore Megan Burch collected 8 kills and each of them served a pair of aces. Senior Chelsea Morgan tallied 7 kills to help lead the Cougar attack.

With the loss, Azusa Pacific drops to 21-12 on the season, while National American improves to 38-0.