College Place, Wash. – The Wolves hosted the Eagles of Northwest University, who were playing their third consecutive game in as many days, in a Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) clash on Sunday evening. Still looking for their first conference win, the Wolves looked to continue their serve/receive improvement, however they would fall short and were swept by the Eagles (25-14, 24-26 & 18-25).
In set one, the Wolves (0-7, 0-6 CCC) would find themselves down early as the Eagles (6-9, 2-4 CCC) built a quick 8-3 lead forcing the Wolves to use a timeout. Coming out of the timeout the Wolves could not string together enough runs to make up for the quick start. The Eagles would use a 5-0 run to double up the Wolves, 20-10 and would take the opening set, 25-14.
Set two saw the Wolves have their best start of the season, as the team battled back and forth with each team trading points. The Wolves would push their lead in the game to 13-11, however two attacking errors would put the Eagles right back in the game. The Wolves would go on a 7-2 run and force the Eagles to take a timeout, pushing their lead over the Eagles to four. With the Wolves ahead in the game, 24-20, the Eagles would take another timeout to regroup. Coming out of the timeout, the Eagles would respond and closed set two on a 6-0 run en route to 26-24 set victory.
In set three, the Wolves looked to build off their approach from the early stages of set two, however the Eagles quickly built an 8-3 lead over the Wolves. The Wolves and Eagles would trade points back and forth, highlighted by kills from Lauren Barlow of the Wolves and Hannah Lord of the Eagles to put the score at 21-16 in favor of the visiting Eagles and force the Wolves to take a timeout. Coming out of the timeout the Eagles rode 4-2 run to claim set three and sweep the match over the Wolves.
The Wolves were led by senior Morgan Doyle (9 kills and .727 pct.) and Sarah Halversen (10 digs, 2 blocks and 5 kills).
The Eagles were led by Hannah Lord (8 kills and 3 blocks) and Courteney Carr (29 assists)
Scott Schaefer spoke after the game about the match. "Despite the loss, this was the best match we played this year," said Schafer. "We were able to string together points in rallies which kept us competitive in the match. Despite not being able to close out that 2nd set, I was overall pleased with the progress we have made to date."
By the Numbers
WWU 36 digs, NU 35 digs
WWU 27 kills, NU 41 aces
WWU 6 blocks, NU 12 blocks
The Wolves look to rebound on Friday, September 21. The Wolves will travel to Portland for a matchup against Multnomah at 3:00PM. The Eagles will travel to No. 10 Southern Oregon on Friday, September 21 to take on the Raiders at 7:00PM.