EUGENE, Ore. – Up two sets to one and later up 12-10 in the fifth, the Northwest Christian University volleyball team was unable to pull out the upset win as Corban University escaped the Morse Event Center with a 25-18, 15-25, 23-25, 25-19, 15-12 victory.
For the Warriors (15-8, 11-3 CCC) it was their first win in Eugene in eight years, breaking a seven game home winning streak for the Beacons in the series. The win also pushes the Warriors back into a tie with No. 16 College of Idaho for third place in the CCC with both teams sitting just one game behind conference leading Southern Oregon and Eastern Oregon.
The Beacons (8-13, 3-11) responded strong after a rough start that saw 15 unforced errors in the opening set. NCU recovered fast, hitting .265 in the second set and winning the third as well. Corban claimed set four forcing the decisive fifth.
The final frame was the home for plenty of drama. Corban jumped out to a 3-0 lead, only to see the Beacons score three straight to tie the set. The teams were tied again at 5-5 and 6-6 before a Natalie Downes kill and Claire Salness ace gave the Beacons a two-point lead. The lead stretch to three, 10-7 on a combo block from Mary Grace Blaser and Megan Van Marter.
Corban rallied to tie the game with three straight points of their own, only to see the Beacons emerge with a 12-10 lead on back-to-back kills from Kayla Olson and Elle Vershingel.
Corban used their final timeout and proceeded to score the final five points of the match, capped off by a match-winning kill from Avari Ridgway.
The Warriors finished the night hitting .140 and leading the defensive battle with a 99-89 edge in digs. Lauren Condon (28) and Kealani Ontai (27) seemed to pick up attack after attack to keep multiple rallies alive. Condon also provided the offensive juice with a team-leading 13 kills, adding two service aces. Cierra Leopoldino registered a match-high with 24 assistas and Demi Winters led the team with five blocks. Jacquelyn Clark took advantage of her 15 attempts, collecting eight kills and hitting .467.
NCU was led once again by Van Marter (pictured), collecting match highs with 15 kills and seven blocks, hitting .407. The senior continues to dominate the Cascade Conference with a .415 hitting percentage. On the national list she misses the minimum requirements by just 14 attack attempts but would rank fourth in the country with those numbers.
Salness had another strong effort with ten kills and led the Beacons with 20 digs. Downes also had ten kills, hit .320 and posted a pair of blocks. Both NCU setters ended their nights with double-doubles as Haley Meili recorded 21 assists and 16 digs while Makenna Northern posted 19 and 16. Fresh off her CCC Defensive Player of the Week award, Olson added another 19 digs.
Corban returns to their home court on Friday, taking on Walla Walla University at 3:00 pm. The Beacons will get a slight reprieve from the rigors of the CCC schedule as they participate in the New Hope Christian College Tournament this weekend. They will head across town to face New Hope on Friday at 4:00 pm before closing the event at 10:00 am on Saturday against West Coast Baptist. Then on Saturday night they will face Walla Walla back in the Morse Event Center at 8:00 pm. NCU is a combined 27-4 against the three opponents all-time.