EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team swept the visiting Southern Oregon University, 25-22, 25-17, 25-14 in a Cascade Conference match on Friday night. It was just NCU’s third win ever against SOU, but their second straight after defeating the Raiders late last season in Ashland.
NCU (11-4, 6-4 CCC) dominated Southern Oregon throughout the match, ending the night with a 38-33 kill advantage while committing just 11 attack errors as they hit .216. The Beacons set the tempo and kept their opponents off-balance from start-to-finish, delivering a quintessential team performance in front of a packed Morse Event Center crowd.
It was the defensive effort, both at the net and in the back row that set the tone as NCU collected 69 digs and nine blocks, leading to the Raiders hitting just .051 in the match. Megan Van Marter led the way with six blocks while Haley Damian, Sydney Rothenbush and Maci Beierle were each in double digits for digs.
Head Coach Kelly Pitre praised the play of her back row, citing their efforts as a key factor in the victory. “I can’t say enough about our back row tonight. Haley, Kayla Olson, Sydney and Maci were phenomenal. Their hard-fought digs and placement passing really stole momentum and lead to us being unpredictable on the attack.”
Set one was fiercely competitive, seeing nine lead changes with the scoring never swaying more than three points in either team’s favor. After going up 18-17 NCU never looked back and kept ahead of the Raiders the remainder of the match, getting stronger as the night went on.
Beierle posted a double-double for the Beacons, collecting 31 assists and 11 digs, in addition to four kills. Coach Pitre raved about her setter after the game. “Maci does such a great job running the offense for us. She spreads the ball around, really setting up her teammates and keeping the opponents guessing.”
Damian led the way with a team-high 19 digs, getting ten in the decisive third set. Rothenbush added 14. Freshman Kasey Campbell had nine kills with just one error, hitting .421. She collected six kills alone in set two, without an error. Fellow freshman Natalie Downes was second for the Beacons with seven kills, adding five digs and four blocks. Van Marter and Claire Salness each had six kills. Keri Schwarz also contribute five kills.
Southern Oregon (7-5, 5-3) also had a player collect a double-double as Natalie James had 14 assists and 11 digs. Dani Johnson led the Raiders with nine kills, while Taylor Ristvedt and Makayla Hoyt each had seven. Ashlyn Flynn led all players with 20 digs.
The Beacons and SOU both return to the court on Saturday for CCC contests. Northwest Christian hosts Oregon Tech at 1 p.m., while the Raiders travel north to take on No. 16 Corban at 7 p.m.