Junior outside hitter, Breanna Covey, led NU with 17 kills.
Eagles Defeat Cavs in Four
KIRKLAND, Wash. - Northwest University won a key matchup with Concordia (Ore.), 3-1 (25-21, 25-17, 17-25, 25-13), as the team’s battled for possession of fourth place in the Cascade Conference tonight in Kirkland. Three NU Eagles combined for 45 kills in the match.
The second set would find Concordia in the early lead once again, 10-8, but a Cav miscue and two straight service aces by Lauryn Ernster would give the Eagles an 11-10 lead. Northwest would outscore the Cavaliers 14-7 to win the set, 25-17.
In the third set, Concordia would take the lead, 12-8, once again, but this time they would not let NU back into the set. Kills by Aria Nojima, Leslie Hanks and Melanie Miller would give CU a commanding 21-14 lead which they would never relinquish and they would pull away for the 25-17 win.
Northwest would come out strong in the final set, breaking out to a 12-6 lead. A service error by NU would make it 14-10, but kills by Covey, Anu Akamine and Stoker would put the Eagles out in front, 17-11. NU would take the set and match on two aces by Molly Boyle, a kill by Sarah Stoker and a final CU error—25-13 Northwest.
Junior outside hitter Breanna Covey (Arlington, Wash.) led Northwest U. (7-6, 5-3 CCC) with 17 kills. Sarah Stoker (Soph., Olympia, Wash.) and Molly Boyle (Soph., Ridgefield, Wash.) would each finish with 14 kills each. Boyle led NU with a .444 hitting percentage followed by Stoker at .379. Setter Lauryn Ernster Jr., Bothell, Wash.) would have a match high 49 assists with 9 digs and libero Heather Shulke (Jr., Castle Rock, Wash.) would have a match high 36 digs for the Eagles.
Concordia (9-6, 4-4 CCC) was led by freshman Leslie Hanks’ (Hockinson, Wash.) 11 kills along with 16 digs. Lindsey Mangan (Soph., Huntington Beach, Calif.) led the Cavs with 37 assists and 10 digs and teammate Aubrie Concannon (Sr., Portland, Ore.) led CU with 19 digs on the night.
“This was a big win for us,” said NU head coach, Jessie Dietrich. “We were able to execute on a lot of things which we worked on in practice, so it was great to see. We hope to carry it through tomorrow night against Warner Pacific.”
Northwest will remain home to host Warner Pacific tomorrow night in the NU Pavilion while Concordia travels to Olympia, Wash., to play the Evergreen State College. Both games are scheduled to begin at 7 p.m.