PORTLAND, Ore.—Keeping its hopes alive for a berth into the CCC tournament, the Concordia volleyball team beat Northwest University 3-1 (18-25, 25-20, 25-23, 25-17) on Saturday.

The win put Concordia (14-8, 9-6 CCC) alone in fourth place in the CCC, a half game up on Northwest (10-9, 8-6 CCC). It also evened the head-to-head between the two teams, which might prove crucial if both finished tied for the fourth and final seed in the CCC tournament at the end of the regular season.

Concordia put itself in a hole early, though, dropping the first set 25-18. Concordia wouldn’t find its spark till the middle of the second, either, as both teams battled closely to a 13-13 tie early in the set. After that, though, Concordia won two out of three or three out of four points a couple of times to inch ahead. Then with a lead at 19-17, CU strung five points together to go up 24-17 before closing it out a few points later.

The set also featured a marked improvement for the Cavalier defense who totaled 14 digs, eight alone for libero Aubrie Concannon, while limiting the Eagles to a -.091 hitting percentage.

The Eagles responded well in the third, though, hitting .268, while coming back from a small deficit in the middle of the set. Northwest’s run came after Concordia built a small lead at 17-13 after another tight early part of the set. From there, the Eagles won eight of the next 10 points to take a 21-19 lead. Unfortunately for the Eagles, Concordia answered the challenge, winning six of the last eight points in the third to take the 2-1 advantage in sets.

Concordia used a much improved offensive attack in the third, hitting .292 to squeak out the set win. That only continued in the fourth as the Cavs picked up the attack even more, hitting .381 with 18 kills and only two errors. The 18 kills matched what the Cavs hit in the third, while setter Lindsay Mangan put up an astonishing 16 assists in each set.

Not surprisingly then, the Cavs rode their attack early in the fourth, turning a 2-3 deficit into a 10-3 lead. The Eagles crept back in it again, though, coming within one of the Cavs at 14-13. Concordia would not be denied, however, as they finished the Eagles off, scoring 11 of the last 15 points in the match to close out the 3-1 win.

Concordia won the statistical battle as well, outhitting the Eagles .256-to-.146, while totaling more kills (61-to-48) and more assists (60-to-45).

Individually, a trio of seniors recorded double-digit kills for the Cavs in Aria Nojima (19, .311), Clair Thiel (14, .481) and Cassandra Koering (10, .296). Mangan, meanwhile, added four kills of her own to hit .333, while totaling a season-high 55 assists in only four sets, one off her career best 56, which she set last year at home also against Northwest. Mangan’s previous season-best came in a five-set match against College of Idaho on Sept. 24 when she recorded 50 assists.

The Cavs also filled the stat sheet defensively as another trio of Cavaliers recorded double-digit digs in Concannon (22), Melanie Miller (21) and Leslie Hanks (14).

On the flip side, Breanna Covey led Northwest with 19 kills, while Anu Akamine recorded a double-double with 10 kills and 16 digs. In addition, libero Heather Shulke led all players with 23 digs, while setter Lauryn Ernster totaled 41 assists.

Concordia now faces a difficult road trip against CCC-leaders College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon. The Cavaliers will first play The College of Idaho on Friday, Oct. 28 at 7 p.m. While C of I beat Concordia 3-2 when the teams played in Portland, Concordia still stands as one of only two CCC teams to push the Yotes to five sets this season.

Northwest also returns to action on Friday, hosting Oregon Tech at 7 p.m.