FOREST GROVE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team stumbled in the second and third sets but rallied to stave off an upset bid from Pacific on Wednesday night, 25-16, 24-26, 20-25, 25-16, 16-14, in a match that took two hours and fifteen minutes.
The Beacons rolled out with a first-set victory only to drop a close second set in extra points. NCU jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the third set but let the Boxers back in for a five-point win. Northwest Christian rallied back to win set four in convincing fashion, holding Pacific to a negative hitting percentage with 10 kills and 11 errors in the frame.
But then, in their second five-setter of the young season, did what they needed to do to survive and keep Pacific (0-5) out of the win column. Pacific took the early lead in the decider, but the visitors came back to tie the game at 7-7. The Boxers kept a narrow lead and owned the first match-point of the night with a 14-13 lead. Taylor Richardson, however, tied the game with a kill, forcing extra points once again. Maren Mansfield followed with a kill and Richardson and Cassidy Winters finished off the match with a block.
Head Coach Mike Gaffaney said, “It was a tough battle tonight, which is something we didn’t expect. Not taking anything away from them but our performance just wasn’t up to par. It certainly isn’t something we want to go into a conference weekend on, but I’ll take the win.”
NCU (5-2) was led by Richardson (pictured), finishing with a team-high 12 kills with a strong hitting efficiency at .242. Mansfield and Chelsea McGowan added ten kills each with McGowan contributing on eight of NCU’s match-high 14 blocks. Dana McGowan led five players with double-digit dig totals, collecting 15. Cori Wallace had 12, adding 43 assists.
Janel Fetters posted a strong night with 12 digs, eight kills and six blocks while Winters finished the evening with seven kills, two service aces and six blocks.
We had a lot of opportunities to fight back tonight and we did so,” said Gaffaney. “It’s nice to have an character building opportunity and seeing us be able to come back from a deficit. We blocked well, but we need to put together a more efficient hitting game.”
Pacific was led by Marie Rewick with 23 kills and 19 digs while Mariah McHolland added 13 kills and four blocks. Becky Sheller led all players with 26 digs and Kylee Oshiro contributed a match-high three service aces.
NCU returns to action on Friday, playing their home opener and Cascade Collegiate Conference opener against Oregon Tech at 7:00 pm. The Beacons have taken four of the last five meetings from the Owls.