EUGENE, Ore.  – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team snagged their first ever victory over Cascade Collegiate Conference rival Corban University on Friday night, 25-22, 13-25, 25-16, 25-20. NCU dropped the first nine matches in the series before utilizing twelve service aces and eight blocks to pull out the win.

Head Coach Mike Gaffaney said, “I wasn't a pretty match, but we won it with guts and pure heart tonight. Our girls wanted it more and worked really hard for it. They did a good job when we were out of system, keeping the ball in play and putting it down for points.”

The Beacons were led by sophomore Janel Fetters, posting eleven kills and eleven digs while matching her own career high with seven blocks. Danielle Nance and Chelsea McGowan threw down four block assists each with Nance leading all players with twelve kills. NCU, already leading the CCC in aces with 1.88 per set, collected twelve on Friday, led by five from Emily O'Neal and three from Dana Clark. Clark also led all players with 23 digs. Cori Wallace posted a double-double with 13 digs and a match-high 28 assists.

Corban (8-7, 2-5) was led by eleven kills and four blocks from Claire Bailey. Courtney Mulford added nine kills, hitting a match-best .412. Tiffany Land also had four blocks and threw in eight kills. Bethany Durre tied Clark for the match lead with 23 digs as the Warriors out-dug the Beacons 82-72. Megan Dees (21) and Chandra Baskoro (20) were also busy on defense in the loss. Dees also led the team with 19 assists.

With the victory, Northwest Christian improves to 8-6 on the season and 3-4 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. They move into sixth place in the CCC and have tied their season totals for both wins and CCC wins from the 2010 campaign.

“This was a great accomplishment for NCU Volleyball,” said Fetters. “This will give us motivation to go through the rest of the season and pull out some more wins.”

With the loss, Corban falls to 8-7 overall and 2-5 in the CCC, putting them in eighth place. The Warriors next match is set for next Friday night when they host Oregon Tech (8-5, 2-4 CCC).

The Beacons remain home for a scrimmage against the New Hope Christian College club team on Saturday evening and will then travel to play at Linfield College on Wednesday in non-conference action.