Cougar Classic: Northwest Drops 2 on Final Day
AZUSA, Calif. - Northwest University, playing their fourth and fifth matches in three days, dropped both to #6 ranked Azusa Pacific 3-1 (25-19, 25-22, 22-25, 25-19) and Cal State San Marcos 3-0 (28-26, 25-21, 25-15) at the Azusa Pacific Cougar Classic in the Felix Event Center.
The NU Eagles battled the NAIA's D-1 and #6 ranked Azusa Pacific Cougars Saturday morning, but fell short, dropping their match to the tournament hosts.
Northwest U. (2-2) was led by junior Breanna Covey's (Arlington, Wash.) 14 kills while teammate Lauryn Ernster (Bothell, Wash.) stepped up for a big match with a game high 36 assists and added 25 digs. Libero Heather Shulke (Jr., Castle Rock, Wash.) led the Eagles with a game high 30 digs. Senior Anu Akamine (Hauula, Hawaii) added 15 digs and newcomer Olivia VanDlac (Snohomish, Wash.) contributed 11 digs for NU.
Azusa Pacific (3-0) was led by Whittany Radcliffe's 19 kills while Jackie Landers added 14 kills for the Cougars. Raechel Jones led the team with 27 assists and added 15 digs. Teammate Amy Alkazin contributed 10 kills and 19 digs for APU.
The Eagles played their second match of the day at noon following the 10 a.m. game with Azusa Pacific. Northwest battled the Cougars in the first set getting edged, 28-26.
Covey led the Eagles (2-3) again in kills with 12 while teammate Lauryn Ernster finished with 35 assists and 7 digs. Heather Shulke had a game high 19 digs and Olivia VanDlac added 6 kills and 4 digs for NU.
CSU San Marcos' Kara Barkdoll had 16 kills and teammate Alyssa Foster had a match high 43 assists for the Cougars. Taylor Degraaf added 12 kills and 17 digs for CSUSM (3-2).
Said Eagle coach Jessie Dietrich, "We fought hard in our first match with Azusa. It was an intense match and we played our best match of the season so far even though we weren't able to pull out the win."
Coach Dietrich continued, "Our next match against Cal State San Marcos was a different story. It was difficult to rise up after the loss (to Azusa) in order to get the necessary intensity required to get the job done against another good team. All in all, we saw a lot of improvements in the team during the tournament and I look forward to the next two weeks of practice to work out our kinks before we start conference play."
The Eagles return to Kirkland and will face Seattle Pacific in an exhibition match on Aug. 24, before starting league play in Caldwell, Idaho against the College of Idaho on Sept. 2 and LaGrande, Ore., on Sept. 3 when they face Eastern Oregon.