Azusa Pacific volleyball had a challenging year, finishing with a 14-15 overall record. The Cougars started the season with eight straight road games during the Seaside Invitational and the Pac-West GNAC challenge, and finished the road cycle with three wins and five losses.
“We lost a few key players last year. I knew that we had a team that was coming into it that had a lot of talent,” said head coach Chris Keife. “My expectations were to see where we were and establish who we are as a fairly younger team with some girls in new positions and try to mesh on the court as quickly as we can.”
After the rough start, the Cougars battled back and got their record up to 11-7 overall and 7-2 in the PacWest. Unfortunately, a six-game losing streak followed, when the Cougars were swept five of those games.
“It was really tough during that losing streak,” junior outside hitter Mattie Shelford said. “We definitely learned a lot of valuable lessons during that time and came together as a team to get over those losses.”
In the six-game losing streak, all but one came on the road, including a four-game trip to Hawaii in which the Cougars came away with one win, then three tough games against California Baptist, Point Loma and Fresno Pacific.
The Cougars ended the season on a relatively high note by defeating powerhouse BYU-Hawaii in five sets, sweeping California Baptist, then losing to Point Loma in five sets.
“I think it was really important for us to end the season that way. We would have liked to have beaten Point Loma, but we were thrilled to sweep CBU,” senior right side hitter Haley Beetstra said.
The Cougars will go into next season with seven players entering their senior year, including Shelford, Joy Reinke and setter Jaden Louie, who have all been important parts of the team since joining the program. The Cougars are hoping that this season’s difficulties will translate into success next year.
Shelford earned Pac-West accolades for her stellar performance during the 2014 season, earning second-team all-conference off her team-high 323 kills, a .242 kill percentage and 50 blocks. Sophomore middle blocker Ashley Midland also earned Pac-West recognition, earning an honorable mention for the conference.
The team will graduate seniors Beetstra, Alicia Utke, Tristan Racich and Cori Esparza. Utke led the Cougars second in kills (229) and digs (318) this season while Beetstra contributed 112 kills and Racich recorded 383 assists.