SALEM, Ore. – Northwest Christian University totaled 62 unforced errors on Wednesday night and lost in five sets to Willamette University, 21-25, 25-14, 26-24, 19-25, 15-9.

The Beacons suffered through 39 attack errors, fueled in large part to a strong block by the Bearcats, who collected 16 blocks in the match. Head Coach Mike Gaffaney said, “We beat ourselves tonight, it's as simple as that. We made a tremendous amount of errors and gave it away. We still won two sets and were close in another. It would have been a much different match without our own mistakes.”

The Beacons shot out of the gates strong on Wednesday, allowing WU to collected just four kills in the first set. Both teams had a negative hitting percentage in the set with Willamette at -.167. The roles reversed in the second set as the Bearcats responded with a 25-14 win on the strength of a .231 hitting percentage.

The third set included 16 ties and six lead changes. Willamette owned a 19-17 advantage, but the Beacons won three consecutive points to pull in front, 20-19. The teams were tied four more times, before WU took a 24-23 lead on an attacking error by Northwest Christian. The Beacons evened the score with a kill by Maren Mansfield, before the Bearcats won the game with a kill by Leenstra and a hitting error by NCU.

Both teams held leads in the fourth set. WU surged out to a 7-4 edge, only to have the Beacons go on a 6-0 run to claim a three-point lead. NCU extended its lead to 20-12, before winning the set, 25-19.

Willamette played well in the decisive fifth set. The Bearcats hit .455 during the set with five kills, no errors and 11 attacks. Northwest Christian managed seven kills and had 23 attacks during the set, but committed six attacking errors.

The Beacons (6-3) had a few bright spots in the tough loss, led by a season-high 22 kill effort from sophomore Janel Fetters (pictured), who hit .286. Emily O'Neal added 12 kills, nine digs and team highs with four blocks and four service aces.

Cori Wallace continued her impressive start to the season. She registered the second-highest assist total in school history (45), adding eleven digs and four kills. Reigning CCC Libero of the Week Dana Clark collected 24 digs.

Willamette (2-3) was led by 14 kills from Nicole Mertens and 12 from Madisyn Leenstra. Carly Hargrave collected nine blocks while Shannon Waltz and Alisa Ahern chipped in seven apiece.

The Beacons return to action on Friday night when they play host to #8 College of Idaho at 7:00 pm. The Beacons went 0-2 against the Coyotes in 2010, but did steal a set off the highly ranked team at home.