Azusa Pacific began its volleyball season by losing four straight matches. However, the Cougars were not discouraged by this.
The Cougars began the season in Anchorage, Alaska, playing four matches in three days. Azusa lost all four of their matches, three of which were against teams currently ranked in the top 15 of the AVCA Division II coaches poll. However, the Cougars remain optimistic.
“I wanted to play the best teams and have the best competition just to see where we were,” head coach Chris Keife said. “We were pretty exposed in our weaknesses and that allowed us as a coaching staff to see what we needed to work on.”
“It was probably the best teams that we’ve ever seen,” senior outside hitter Mattie Shelford said.
The team has bounced back by winning seven straight games since departing Alaska.
“We appreciated going to Alaska and learning to fight through that,” Shelford said. “It gave us confidence going into these games against teams that maybe aren’t as dominant as the teams we played [in Alaska].”
The Cougars have only lost two games during their seven-match winning streak. The run is highlighted by a 3-1 win over rival California Baptist, currently 10-2 this season.
“I see a big improvement from where we were in Alaska to where we are now,” Keife said.
The last three Cougar wins have opened up conference play for Azusa Pacific. The team finished 14-15 overall last year and 10-10 in conference play. The team believes that they can improve on that.
“There are five of us seniors and we’re all thinking, ‘go out with a bang,’” Shelford said. “These past years we’ve all said ‘we can win conference’ and ‘oh it’s possible,’ but this year we really feel it and we really believe it.”
Coach Keife is focused on taking it “one game at a time” and not dropping any matches against teams in the bottom half of the conference.
“We want to control our own destiny, we don’t want to have to worry about anything exterior,” he said. “Our focus is just on us. The fun thing is any team can beat any team.”
The conference looks like it will be a wide-open race. BYU-Hawaii, which won the last four conference titles, struggled leading up to conference play. Meanwhile, APU, Hawaii Pacific and Chaminade have all roared out of the gates, all starting 3-0 in conference play.
The Cougars are back in action tonight against Point Loma in San Diego.