The Northwest Christian University volleyball team dropped their Cascade Collegiate Conference opener on Friday night to Concordia University, 26-24, 25-10, 25-20. After keeping things close in the first set, the Beacons couldn't hold on as the Cavaliers pulled away for the victory.

Head Coach Mike Gaffaney said, “We played up to our potential in that first set and really proved to ourselves that we can hang with a good time like Concordia. We just gave up too many points off errors in sets two and three.”

The Beacons (5-2) were led by Maren Mansfield (pictured) with eight kills and eight digs. Cori Wallace contributed a double-double with 23 assists and ten digs, adding two blocks. Danielle Nance led the team with three blocks and Dana Clark chipped in a team-high 13 digs. Emily O'Neal hit .308 on the night with seven kills, adding two blocks of her own.

Concordia (5-2) was led by Middle Blocker Clair Thiel who had a dominating night, hitting .750 with 12 kills and four blocks Lindsay Mangan posted a match-high 34 assists and Aubrie Concannon led all players with 23 digs.

NCU will look to rebound on Saturday night when they face off against Warner Pacific at 7:00 pm. “Once we realize how good we really are,” said Gaffaney, “and we're able to hold onto our confidence through an entire match, we can really content with anyone in our conference.”