AZUSA, Calif. –  A 2-1 lead was not enough for the Sea Lions to secure a victory at Azusa Pacific, where the No. 5 Cougars handed seventh-ranked Point Loma its second bitter 2-3 loss of the year (25-16, 18-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-7).

The defeat suddenly puts the Sea Lions (9-3) at 1-3 in the GSAC--a place that no one would have expected the team to be in, especially after entering conference play with a perfect 9-0 record.

As evident by the flip-flopping scores, the match could have resulted either way. However, in the end, when 5 points was needed to seal the victory, the Cougars were to ones that claimed the decisive set.

Sandwiched between two mediocre sets for Point Loma, were three much more well-played ones. The Sea Lions rallied and won two, while fighting very hard for the third. The outer two sets weren't characteristic of PLNU volleyball. Unfortunately they caused irreversible damage.

Azusa and Point Loma were tied 18-all in what would have been the Sea Lions' winning set when the Cougars' hitting became too much to handle. Jackie Landers and Whittany Radcliffe's six kills at the end of the set put the Sea Lions away.

The two APU outside hitters didn't cool down at all going into the fifth set, where they continued their hitting sprees, quickly going ahead 4-1. Point Loma never came within more than two points of the Cougars in the remainder of the set.

PLNU's Taylor Lane, Tabitha Henken, and Alyssa Dwyer all hit in the double digits, Dwyer with 14 kills on just 31 swings.  APU's Landers and Radcliffe combined for 37 kills, where the Cougars outhit the Sea Lions .177 to .147.

Aimee Bird had 32 assists and 23 ups, while Natalie Hamill also added 22 assists.

The 1-3 Sea Lions will host Vanguard University on Tuesday, Sept. 27 at 7 pm in Golden Gymnasium.