AZUSA, Calif. — Hawai'i Pacific University opened their southern California road swing on a sour note Friday night, falling 3-0 to Azusa Pacific at the Felix Event Center.
The Sharks (15-10, 11-5) remained fourth in the PacWest standings despite the loss. The Cougars (13-13, 9-8) picked up their third straight with the 25-20, 26-24, 25-11 win.
Freshman
Alison McCollum of LaCanada, Calif./Flintridge Sacred Hearts, led the Sharks in the contest with 12 kills with a block. No other Shark recorded more than five kills in the match. Junior
Lea Felton of Sacramento, Calif./St. Francis, hit .333 to lead HPU.
Azusa Pacific's Ally Gonzalez posted 12 kills with a .611 hitting percentage, along with two blocks. Natalie Klapp just missed a double-double with nine kills and 13 digs.
As a team, the Sharks hit just .138 with 6.0 blocks, while APU hit .320 and garnered 9.0 blocks.
HPU and Azusa had a donnybrook in the first set, with the teams exchanging the lead four times and have the set tied 11 times. The set was knotted at 17-all, when APU went on a 5-0 run to grab a 22-17 advantage. The Sharks edged back for a 23-20 differential, but the Cougars got the next two points as Klapp's kill gave APU a 25-20 set win.
The second set followed the same suit as the first before HPU jumped out to a 16-11 advantage. APU grabbed two points back before the Sharks answered to make it 17-13. That's when the Cougars went on a 7-1 run to start the back and fourth between the schools as the set had 13 ties and five lead changes. The Sharks were broken on a set-point serve as part of a final 3-0 run featuring HPU errors that put APU in control 26-24.
The Cougars never looked back in the third set, opening with an 8-3 lead. HPU closed it to an 8-6 differential before Azusa used a 10-1 run to put the set and the match away on the way to a 25-11 triumph and the sweep.
The Sharks won't have long to worry about the loss as they travel to Irvine on Saturday to face PacWest leader Concordia. First serve is slated for 3 p.m. HST (5 p.m. PST).
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