COLUMBIA, Mo. -- The weather outside was most certainly frightful, but inside the Silverthorne Arena on the campus of Stephens College (Mo.), the NAIA’s No. 11-ranked Azusa Pacific calmed the Tornado of unranked King (Tenn.), wrapping up pool play with a 30-25, 30-28, 30-18 sweep over the Region XII champion at the 2006 NAIA Volleyball National Championship.

The Cougars had been eliminated from the next round of the tournament when King was swept in its morning match by top-seeded National American (S.D.), assuring both Columbia (Mo.) and National American at least 2 victories in pool play, while Azusa Pacific finishes 1-2 in the pool.

“We’ve been in similar situations like this throughout the year – maybe a game doesn’t matter as much as another game, but the girls have done a good job staying motivated for every single game,” said Cougar head coach Chris Keife. “They knew it was the last game, they could see the light at the end of the tunnel of the season being finished. I also talked just a little bit about implications for next year, with us just losing 1 player, that we could make a statement to the rest of the nation, that we’re a team that’s still going to be around next year and be solid. The girls did a nice job taking care of business, and they wanted to finish with a win.”

With temperatures dipping towards the teens and low twenties, and a light snowfall picking up outside the arena, Azusa Pacific’s offense came out red-hot, recording 22 kills in the opening game, with 7 different attackers recording a kill as the Cougars posted a .463 attack percentage.

“To have 22 kills and 3 errors, that’s probably the most efficient we’ve been all year,” said Keife. “We passed really well, and we controlled the ball. Pretty much everything on our side, we were able to get a good swing. Allison (Kincheloe) was making some nice sets for our hitters, and our hitters put the ball away.”

Senior Chelsea Morgan led the way, recording 6 of her match-high 12 kills in the opening game in the final match of a stellar 3-year Cougar career.

“We were all really pumped up – it was our last game, our last hurrah,” said Morgan. “It was emotional for me coming out, but I try not to think about that too much. I think we just didn’t really know what to expect from them. I just wanted to bounce a few more, so I just went out swinging. I think we all wanted to. Then once we saw how they were, we realized we could actually go out there and hit.”

Trailing 19-13 in the second game, freshman Jill Baker put a ball away on an attack from the back row, sparking a 10-2 run that included 4 of Baker’s match-high 12 kills to give the Cougars a 23-21 lead.

“We just wanted to go out on pride,” said Baker. “We still wanted to make a statement that we did deserve to be there and that we deserved our ranking. There’s still importance to the games here, because they will take everything into account for next year. We are still learning that it is tough to go to nationals, but we want to be one of those teams that it’s almost guaranteed we’re going to nationals.”

The Cougars took advantage of 5 King errors to spark a 9-2 run midway through the third game that gave Azusa Pacific a commanding 19-12 lead, and the Cougars wrapped up the match on a 9-3 run to seal the victory.

Sophomore Megan Burch added 11 kills and 2 service aces to help lead the Cougar attack.

With the win, Azusa Pacific wraps up its season with a final record of 22-13, its third straight 20-win campaign.