Box Score
No. 1 Fresno Pacific struggled early before coming back to beat No. 7 Azusa Pacific (16-3, 4-3 GSAC) in four sets, 28-26, 21-25, 25-19, 25-18. The Tuesday evening home match advanced the Sunbirds to 15-0, 7-0 in conference play.
#Keke Wang led FPU offensively, with an impressive 24 kills. Martina Gregusova and Lisa Shilling added 15 and 10 kills, respectively. Shilling posted seven blocks on the evening, followed closely by Kathleen Anderson, who had five. Sunbird setters had a notable evening as Emily Carroll and Erica Adachi had 29 and 27 assists, respectively. Mariah Mandelbaum led the team with 18 digs.
FPU struggled to get the ball rolling in the first set, going down 18-11 at one point before rallying to score seven unanswered points, tying the set at 18. From there, the two teams swapped the lead continuously, eventually going to extra points.
A kill from Karah Mitchell overcame APU's match-point, tying the game at 25. A service ace from Michelle Johnson then gave the Sunbirds their first match-point opportunity, to which the Cougars responded effectively, tying the set again at 26. Finally, Gregusova put down two emphatic kills to give FPU the 28-26 win.
The Sunbirds surrendered the second set to the Cougars. They were able to tie it at 12 with a kill from Wang, but APU led the rest of the way, taking it 25-21.
The Sunbirds got back into stride in the third set. Making some adjustments during the break, they stepped up their blocking efforts. Shilling made the new plan a reality, stepping up with a critical block that tied the score at six. From there, the Sunbirds never looked back. Adachi finalized the 25-19 win with one of her three service aces.
Set four was an improved version of the previous set, as FPU cruised to a 25-18 victory, sealing the match in their favor. Gregusova capped the win with another kill. The Sunbirds held the Cougars to .122 hitting in the final two sets, compared to .279 in the first two.
"APU is a talented team," Shilling commented after the game. "We respond well to tight games, though. We rose to the occasion."
The schedule gets tougher as the Sunbirds hit the road to take on #6 Cal Baptist (19-1, 6-1) on Saturday in Riverside.
Around the GSAC
#3 Biola 3, Westmont (H) 0 (28-26, 25-20, 25-15)
#7 Concordia (H) 3, San Diego Christian 1 (25-12, 25-19, 21-25, 25-14)
#6 California Baptist 3, The Masters (H) 1 (25-16, 25-18, 24-26, 25-18)
#25 Point Loma Nazarene 3, Hope International (H) 1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-19, 25-19)
