EUGENE, Ore.  – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team suffered a gut wrenching loss on Saturday night, falling to Concordia University in five sets, 20-25, 25-20, 25-19, 20-25, 15-12. The Cavaliers are now 11-0 all-time against NCU.
 
The Beacons started out strong, claiming the first set behind 12 assists from Cori Wallace and four kills apiece from Maren Mansfield, Emily O'Neal and Danielle Nance.
 
Concordia, however, responded to take the next two sets, holding the Beacons to a .000 attack percentage in the process. NCU rebounded in the fourth set as Wallace put up 13 assists, but the Cavs held steady in the final set despite two strong Beacon rallies to pull out the marathon victory.
 
Concordia (12-8, 7-6 CCC) was led by Aria Nojima, collecting 16 kills and 15 digs. Melanie Miller added eight kills and 17 digs while Skyler Kamaka threw in ten kills. Lindsey Mangan added eleven digs to her match-high 44 assists and Aubrie Concannon led all players with 31 digs. Cassandra Koering tied for the match-high with four blocks.
 
Northwest Christian (10-11,5-8) was led by Mansfield and O'Neal, each finishing with 13 kills. Manfield added 13 digs for the double-double. Chelsea McGowan and Nance each had ten kills with Nance tying for the match-high with four blocks (three assisted). Wallace posted another double-double with 42 assists and 15 digs and Dana Clark led NCU with 22 digs.
 
The Beacons will be back in action on Monday when they play host to Multnomah University at 5:00 pm.