EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team shook off a rough first set and fought admirably through the next two, but it was to no avail as Concordia University took the Cascade Conference volleyball tilt in three sets, 25-13, 25-23, 26-24.

Concordia came out swinging and jumped ahead 13-3 to open the match. They went on to hit .391 in set one, collecting ten kills to just one error to stretch out the 11-point margin. The Beacons made things harder on themselves in the set, committing 15 unforced errors.

The Beacons jumped out to a quick 2-1 lead in the second set but gave back a small lead to the Cavaliers. NCU and Concordia fought through six lead changes and 13 ties and were knotted at 23-23, but a kill by Clair Thiel and a service ace by Abby Schuldheisz.

Set three was played just as tight early on, with the Beacons taking a 7-5 lead in the early goings. Seven unanswered points for CU gave them a five-point lead and they held the advantage through most of that final game. However, the Beacons wouldn't go quietly. Trailing 24-19, Northwest Christian got a kill from Alex Jee, putting Cotie Howard at the service line. A pair of Cavalier attack errors and an ace from Howard brought the Beacons to within one. After a timeout called by Concordia, Brooke Stribling put down a hard kill to tie the game. The Cavs, however, quieted the rally with a kill from Erika Doremus, and a ball handling error on the following play ended the match.

Head Coach Mike Gaffaney said after the match, “This was a tough loss for us, because we wanted to play well against this team at home. It was an emotional loss as well. We just gave up too many unforced mental errors and that was difficult to get through.

Northwest Christian (3-5, 0-3 Cascade Conference) was led on the attack by Amber Kraaz who had six kills in the third set and finished with nine. Howard and Stribling added eight kills apiece, Stribling adding eleven digs. Jee completed her second straight double-double, collecting 14 assists and a team-high 12 digs. Whitney Hoff led the team with 18 assists.

Concordia (8-3, 3-0 CCC) was led by Jamie Richards with ten kills. The Cavaliers hit .227 for the match, led by a .545 performance by Lindsey Fryer, who collected 6 kills and 12 assists. Libero Erica Ford had a match-best 21 digs.

The Beacons will be back in action tomorrow night when they face rival Corban College in the Morse Event Center. Gaffaney said, “Our offense for the most part just wasn't clicking tonight, and that gives us the opportunity to move some players around, and get some more playing time to some players other than our regular starters. We didn't want to see ourselves at 0-3 in conference, but it's going to give us the chance to mix things up.” First serve is scheduled for 7:00 pm.