Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 SAN DIEGO, Calif. — What looked to be a hot start to start the season, turned into a lesson learned Friday as Southern Nazarene dropped its first two matches of the year with a 3-1 (22-25, 25-14, 25-14, 25-17) loss to Azusa Pacific and a 3-0 (25-22, 25-18, 25-20) defeat to Cal State Dominguez Hills.
 
In the opener, the Storm (0-2) raced out to a 1-0 lead in the first set and used an 8-0 to gain control of the opening stanza. Tied at 7-7, an APU error gave an 8-7 lead to SNU and then Emilee Crawford ripped a kill and Jamie Hope had an ace and the run was on. The Cougars though started chipping away at the lead and cut it to 22-20 late in the set. Another error gave the Storm a 23-20 lead and the two traded points as SNU was set on set point after a Nicole Greenway kill. After a service error by the Storm, Greenway put the set away with another kill and put SNU up 1-0.
 
That seemed to just wake up the Cougars as APU then hit .370, .281 and .273 in the final three sets after hitting just .182 in the first. On the reverse end, the Storm hit .222 in the first set and hit above .100 in just one of the final three sets.
 
Hope, Greenway and Natalia Oliveira all finished with nine kills while Taylor Chase closed the season opener with 30 assists. Olivera was jut a kill away from a double-double with a game-high 17 digs. Emily Troup and Kaitlyn Belanger both had 10 digs. Greenway also notched five blocks while chase had three.
 
In the second game, SNU again climbed out to an early lead and held a 20-15 lead late before Cal State Dominguez Hills closed the set on a 10-2 run to take the 1-0 lead. The Toros made quick work of the Storm in the second to lead 2-0 and were up 12-7 in the third set, when signs of life started to show again for SNU. The Storm went on a 6-1 run ignited by a Greenway kill as SNU tied it at 13. There were seven more ties until CSUDH broke a 19-19 tie with a 6-1 run to close out the match and pull off the sweep.
 
SNU was held to just a .094 (30-20-104) clip and was out dug 48-36. The Storm did have 12 blocks led by a match-high six from both Ellen Martin and Hope. It was also Hope who led the way on the offensive side with nine kills. Chase dished out 24 assists while Oliveira had 10 digs. Greenway posted seven kills and four blocks.
 
Southern Nazarene will close out the west coast road trip Saturday with Cal State Stanislaus at 11 a.m. (CDT) and host Point Loma Nazarene at 5 p.m. (CDT).