In the first week of November, the Cougars brought a week of wild game results.
This week, both soccer teams picked up wins against Hawai’i Pacific in Honolulu. The women’s volleyball team played a challenging schedule while the swim team dominated in the pool.
Women’s Soccer:
On Wednesday evening, Azusa Pacific won against Hawai’i Pacific 9-1. The Cougars have not scored nine goals since the 2008 season when they won against William Jessup 10-1. Scoring nine goals is also the most in a single game since joining NCAA DII.
In the 28th minute of the game, sophomore forward Aubrey Dunaway scored and brought the Cougars to a 2-1 lead with assistance from Avery Guiel. Three minutes later, freshman midfielder Nora Oldwark scored her first goal of the season, bringing Azusa Pacific to a 3-1 lead.
In the first 45 minutes sophomore midfielder Rilee Bradbury put the ball between the posts. Bringing the Cougars to the lead of 4-1 going into the half of the game. Then in the 47th minute junior forward Angela Cipriano added another goal for the Cougars creating a 5-1 advantage.
The Cougars also drew against no. 13 Hawai’i Hilo, bringing their record to 8-4-5.
Men’s Soccer:
Azusa Pacific earned their third shutout in a row in a 1-0 victory at Hawai’i Pacific.
The Cougars had five shots on goal in the first half. Azusa Pacific ended the first half of the game outshooting the Sharks 7-3 and the game was tied 0-0.
In the second half, Mario Shuteriqi was able to find Gabriel Orepoza for the goal making it 1-0.
During the 80th minute, Hawai’i Pacific had an offensive opportunity with a shot going towards the right corner of the net. Rodriguez ended up with a great save to keep the Sharks scoreless.
After 90 minutes, Azusa Pacific won with a 1-0 victory and not dropping a match to the Sharks since 2016.
Unfortunately, APU was unable to secure another victory against Hawai’i Hilo, losing 3-1.
Women’s Basketball:
Azusa Pacific started the season with a 66-53 win against CSU Pueblo at the D2CCA tip-off classic in Texas. The two teams were tied at 12-12 at the end of the first quarter. In the second quarter, the first basket was scored by junior guard Amayah Kirkman who put Azusa Pacific up by a score of 14-12. That score kept the Cougars in the lead for the rest of the game.
In the last four and a half minutes of the first quarter, the Cougars kept a 19-16 lead. Azusa Pacific went to an 11-0 run to bring the lead to 30-16. In the first seven minutes of the last quarter, the Cougars brought their lead to 66-46 with three minutes left, which was the biggest lead in the game.
The Cougars concluded the week with a tough loss against West Texas A&M, 70-63.
Women’s Volleyball:
Azusa Pacific had their seven-game winning streak come to a stop because of No. 15 Chaminade, falling to the Silverswords in straight sets.. Azusa Pacific started the game with a 5-2 lead in the first set but that was the peak for the Cougars. Chaminade started a 22-5 run that shows how the Silverwords have had a 26-3 record in the season.
The second set of the evening was the most competitive, with the Cougars having a slight lead for the majority of it. The Cougars received kills from four players during the 6-1 run early during the set resulting in a three-point advantage.
The third set was very similar to the first, with Chaminade in the lead with a 6-1 run early.
The Silverswords had 16 kills in the second set with five blocks on the defensive side. Resulting
in 12 blocks on the night. The Cougars were not able to score more than two points during the final frame. Chaminade ended up winning the last four points to win the game.
The Cougars bounced back, picking up a win against Hawai’i Hilo, winning all three sets.
Women’s Swim and Dive:
The Cougars beat Biola in a Cornerstone Cup meet by a score of 130-113.
During the 1000 free, freshman Aleena Herrera made a first with a time of 11:01.98.
Junior Delanie Gearing took third with a time of 11:18.90. During the 200 free, sophomore Montana White finished in first place with a time of 1:51.90.
Madeline Schultz and Aleena Herrera closed their fourth and fifth-place finishes for the day in the 50 Free and 400 IM for the Cougars. Herrera made a time of 4:33.54 in the 200 IM. Junior Amanda Anderson came in second place, touching the wall at 4:35.88. Freshman Victoria Alfaro came in third place with a time of 2:11.92.
The Cougars secured the top three spots in the 100 Free, due to freshman Ellie Sivesind finishing first with a time of 53.99. Schultz came in second with a time of 54.00. Junior Hannah Swailes came in third, touching the wall at 54.36.
To decide a winner during the 400 Free relay the Cougars came through as Swailes, Sivesind, Schultz and White ended on top with a time of 3:33.01. The relay team of Halawczak, Wong, Herrin and Davina Sharma took fourth place.