LEWISTON, Idaho – With all four newcomers still on campus for this weekend's new student orientation, a short-handed NCU volleyball team held their own against host Lewis-Clark State in the opening match of the Red Lion Classic, falling in three sets, 25-10, 25-16, 25-20.
"Today we focus on our preseason goals," said head coach Kelly Rosin. "We are striving to stay emotionally consistent, keep the errors low and making our opponent play the ball. We continued to improve and put some different strategies in place each set that seemed to help."
The Beacons (0-1) opened the season hitting just .023 as LCSC collected seven blocks and dug 38 balls. The Warriors offense was clicking to the tune of .424, more than doubling the kill total of NCU.
Senior
Kendall Bergsten (pictured) got her final campaign off on a solid footing, leading the Beacons with eight kills and seven digs.
Laurie Salness added 14 assists, five digs and two aces while
Sydney Rothenbush picked up six digs.
The Warriors (1-0), currently receiving votes in the NAIA national coaches poll, was led by Kennadie Clute who had 13 kills without an error, hitting .591. Amber Hillestad added 22 assists and Natalie Batiste led all players with 15 digs.
NCU returns to the court at 3:00 pm to take on Olivet Nazarene University, a team also receiving votes in the NAIA poll. Rosin said, "The teams we are seeing this weekend are top quality teams and that is a great preparation for the tough Cascade Collegiate Conference."
The second match of the Red Lion Classic went similar to the first with the Beacons getting swept, this time by Olivet Nazarene University, 25-22, 25-17, 27-25. NCU also made some tremendous strides from the morning to the afternoon, even earning a set-point before falling in the third.
The Beacons (0-2) hit .206 in the game and out-dug the Tigers, 43-37. Olivet collected five blocks and had eight service aces to help preserve the victory.
Head Coach
Kelly Pitre said, "We faced another great team on the other side of the net, yet we stayed mentally tough and focused. We changed the lineup and the team responded well and fought hard. We saw more opportunities for our middles in this match and our open hitters put the ball down when we found them."
NCU was led by
Taylor Burnett (pictured) and
Cassidy Winters with nine kills each. Burnett had just one attack error in the match and hit .421. She also had a hand in both Beacon blocks.
Kendall Bergsten added eight kills and eight digs and
Danielle Willyardposted seven kills.
Marsha Poischbeg led the Beacons with 17 assists and
Haley Damian collected a match-high 16 digs.
Olivet Nazarene (2-0) was led by Emma Ross, tying for the match lead with nine kills of her own. Ellie Adamson led all players with 22 assists and Jeslyn Roat collected seven kills and four service aces.
Northwest Christian will conclude pool play at 12 p.m. on Saturday against UC Merced. The teams will turn around and do it again at 3 p.m. in the third-place match as well.