EUGENE, Ore. – Freshman Middle Blocker Cassidy Winters had her first big breakout match on Tuesday, leading the Northwest Christian University Beacons to a three-set victory over cross-town foe New Hope, 25-10, 25-12, 25-11.
Winters collected seven kills on the night without an attack error to hit .700. She also paced the Beacons with two blocks. As a team, NCU cruised to a .434 hitting percentage, collecting 41 kills along with eight service aces.
New Hope hit in the negative, collecting 12 kills but committing 18 attack errors. The Deacons did have 23 digs.
The Beacons (9-3), who are off to their best start in school history, got a match-high ten kills from Taylor Richardson who hit .562. Maren Mansfield added eight kills while Janel Fetters matched Winters’ seven kills, adding three aces and a team-high seven digs.
Dana McGowan also had seven digs and Cori Wallace ended her night with 23 assists. Alyssa Dorr matched Fetters for the match-high with three aces of her own.
“It was nice to see everybody contribute tonight,” said Head Coach Mike Gaffaney. “We played at a high level, which is sometimes hard to do when you are playing against a new program.”