EUGENE, Ore. – Northwest Christian University took the first set on Friday evening, but then lost three straight close contests in a 22-25, 25-21, 28-26, 25-18 loss to Warner Pacific College in Cascade Collegiate Conference action.
The Beacons came out swinging, hitting .220 in the first set led by a powerful six-kill performance by
Emily Miller. Miller hit .455 in the game, committing just one attack error.
The balance of the evening belonged to the Knights, however, who took set two without too much difficulty, leading by as many as eight before rolling to the win. Set three would be a slightly different story as the teams battled through eleven ties and six lead changes. WPC would go ahead 23-18 before the
Cassie Bishop fueled a 6-1 rally with a pair of kills and a service ace to tie things up at 24-24. NCU would get a set-point at 25-24, but Warner rallied back to win four of the next five points to steal the victory, sealed by a Leah Gradwohl kill to end it.
The Knights once again took control in the fourth and decisive set, building a 10-7 lead. The Beacons fought back with four straight points to grab a quick 11-10 lead, but a 6-1 Warner Pacific run gave them the lead for good.
NCU (6-17, 1-13 CCC) was led by a strong night by Bishop, collecting a team-high 14 kills to go along with 25 digs, and three service aces. Her 25-dig effort amounts to a career-high for the junior.
On senior night, senior Libero
Mercedes Leclaire put on a defensive show, coming within four digs of breaking her own school record. She finished with a team season high of 32 digs, averaging a monstrous eight per set.
Whitney Hoff had a double-double for the Beacons with 15 assists and 16 digs and Miller tied for the team high with 14 kills.
NCU out-blocked the Knights 7-2 on the evening, getting four block assists apiece from
Kayla Hansen and
Koontz.
Amber Kraaz added three blocks.
Warner Pacific (9-10, 5-8 CCC) was led by Gradwohl’s double-double, scoring a match-high 17 kills along with 16 digs. Melita Elliot recorded 34 assists and Molly Webb added 32 digs in the winning effort.
Northwest Christian will be back in action on Saturday, playing host to Concordia University at 3:00 pm in their final home match of the season.