EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team opened up the Cascade Conference schedule this weekend, dropping a pair of close matches to Cascade and Warner Pacific.

The Beacons were swept at Cascade on Friday night, 25-22, 25-23, 25-19. NCU held leads in each of the three games, only to see the Thunderbirds climb back to take the win each time. Brooke Stribling led all scorers with 13 kills and was followed on the offense by Cotie Howard with seven. Howard led the team with nine digs. Whitney Hoff totaled 18 assists and eight digs while Charlie Van Loon guided the defensive efforts with four block assists. Howard and Cassie Bishop also chipped in three block assists apiece.

Cascade (1-2, 1-0 CCC) was led by Meagan Stanley who hit .348 in the match with 11 kills. Carla Crowder added 30 assists and Zeva Knuckles led the team with nine digs.

Saturday proved to be another emotional loss for the Beacons. After taking a two-sets-to-none lead and dominating the second set with a 25-9 win, Northwest Christian dropped the next three for a 21-25, 9-25, 25-22, 25-22, 15-10 final score in favor of Warner Pacific.

The Beacons won a close first set and then jumped to a 9-4 lead in the second set before rattling off eight straight points to end it with the 16-point win.Set three was a closer affair that saw the teams tied at 14-14. A five-point run gave the Knights a 19-14 edge, but the Beacons fought back to take a 21-20 lead. WPC responded and slammed the door with a kill from Kara Veach.

Northwest Christian again led most of the way in the fourth set and was on the doorstep of victory with a 20-16 lead. However, back-to-back kills from Veach started a 7-1 rally that gave the Knights a lead that they wouldn't surrender. The consecutive emotional comebacks from Warner Pacific seemed to deflate the Beacons heading into the fifth and decided set, as the Knights jumped ahead 12-4. NCU made it interesting with a 6-1 run that brought them within three, but the Beacons couldn't overcome the sizable deficit as WPC pulled out the win.

The Beacons (2-4, 0-2 CCC) were led by Howard, who collected 17 kills along with ten digs. Stribling, Alex Jee and Mercedes LeClaire had 14 digs apiece and Van Loon once again put down four block assists.

Warner Pacific (4-0, 2-0 CCC) was led by Veach, who finished with a match-best 19 kills. Samantha Kowalski collected 50 assists and Molly Webb led the defense with 25 digs.

Northwest Christian will look to respond on Tuesday night as they travel to Redding, Calif. for a rematch with Simpson University, who the Beacons swept at home to open the season back in August. Conference play will continue this weekend with home games scheduled against Concordia and Corban.