HILO—The Azusa Pacific Cougars gained a measure of revenge with a 3-1 victory over Hawai`i Hilo in volleyball action on Monday night at Vulcan Gymnasium, 25-18, 26-24, 18-25, 25-18.

The visiting Cougars, who fell in straight sets to the Vulcans in their own building back on Sept. 29, improved to 6-7 in the Pacific West Conference and to 10-12 overall. The Vulcans, who were tied with APU for seventh place prior to the match, dropped their third straight to move to 5-8 in the PacWest and to 7-11 on the season.

The Cougars owned the net on the night with 11 total blocks, to just two for Hawaii Hilo. Offensively, Marley Strand-Nicolaisen led the home team with 16 kills.

In the first set, the Cougars broke open a close game (9-7) by scoring seven of the next eight points to take a 16-8 lead. They still led by eight at 22-14 before closing out the set at 25-18. APU hit .357 in the set and had four blocks to none for the Vulcans.

The second set was a battle, with neither team leading by more than three points. In the seesaw battle, the Vulcans took a 19-16 lead, only to see the Cougars score the next seven points to take a 23-19 margin. But UHH stayed alive with back-to-back kills by Strand-Nicolaisen to deadlock it at 23-23. The visitors then used a pair of kills by Julianne Miller and a Vuls net violation to claim the pivotal set, 26-24.

The home team stayed alive in the do-or-die third set. Hawai`i Hilo rushed out to a 9-3 lead and never trailed in the game. They led by as many as seven points before kills by Armani Moultrie and Haylee Roberts, followed by a Cougar attack error closed out the set , 25-18.

The fourth set was all Azusa Pacific. The Cougars came out of the break and busted out to a 7-3 lead and never trailed. They hit a scorching .395 in the set and had only two attack errors.

Miller ended up with 20 kills for the Cougars, hitting a blazing .613. The 6-foot-1 middle blocker also had seven block assists. Bailey Henington had 27 digs for APU.
Strand-Nicolaisen had 19 digs to go with her 16 kills. Kyndra Trevino-Scott and Roberts had 10 kills each. Mina Grant added 21 digs and Sienna Davis had 43 assists.

Hawaii Hilo closes out this eight-match home stand on Saturday when they host Holy Names at 7 p.m.