EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team was defeated in three games on Friday evening by Oregon Tech, 25-18, 25-22, 25-18. The Owls, ranked No. 17 in the latest NAIA coaches poll, remained in first place in the Cascade Collegiate Conference with the victory.
Enduring without the service of top middle blocker
Charlie Van Loon, who was sidelined with an injury, the Beacons fought throughout the match. NCU held early leads in all three sets, before succumbing to the strong outside attack of OIT.
The Owls (12-3, 7-1 CCC) were led by the pair of Outside hitters, Krista Wooley and Nicole Andrews. Wooley hit a remarkable .381 in the match and led all players with 12 kills and 13 digs. Lizzie Law recorded 34 assists and Anna Leal led all players with five blocks.
The Beacons (5-9, 0-7 CCC) had eight kills from their Outside Hitter
Brooke Stribling, who added eight digs.
Cotie Howard, who shifted to the middle tonight, collected eight kills and a team-high four blocks. NCU recorded 8 service aces on the night, getting four from
Whitney Hoff and three from
Tessa Greatwood.
Cassie Bishop added six kills while leading the team with 11 digs.
Head Coach Mike Gaffaney said, “We had to change the lineup again tonight, but the team responded very well. OIT's top hitters hurt us on the outside tonight and we couldn't shut them down, but our own hitting and blocking were better tonight then I've seen them in conference play so far. Our girls have to feel good about the way they played tonight.”
The Beacons, who remain winless in the Cascade Conference will come back out tomorrow night when they play host to Southern Oregon (6-1 CCC) another one of the top teams in the conference. “We've gone through a lot of adversity this year,” said Gaffaney, “but even at 0-7 we are learning and getting better with every match. We play another difficult opponent on Saturday, but as long as we stick to our goals, which are to compete on every point, we should stay right with them.” The first serve is scheduled for 7:00 pm.
