EUGENE, Ore. – Northwest Christian University evened the score on Friday night, sweeping Oregon Tech in Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball action 25-17, 25-23, 25-21. The Owls had swept NCU in Klamath Falls earlier this season.
 
NCU (7-9, 4-8 CCC) used a stifling defense to pull off the three-set win, collecting 43 digs and eight blocks as they held OIT to just .109 hitting in the contest.
 
Head Coach Kelly Rosin said, "The girls did a good job preparing this week to play defense against OIT's offense. We implemented a block to work against their back row attack and we also focused on the tendencies and weaknesses of the front row players. We worked hard to be prepared and tonight was the reward for that effort."
 
The Beacons never trailed in the first set, building an early 3-1 lead after back-to-back kills from Chandler Gabrio and Katie Reeder. With the Owls back within one point at 8-7, NCU went on a 12-4 run to take a nine point lead, 20-11. OIT had a late four-point run but the Beacons capped off the win with another Gabrio slam.
 
The junior middle blocker had four kills and paced the team with two aces, establishing a trend that would push the Beacons throughout the night. After four aces in the first set, NCU added three more in the second set and another four in set three, finishing the night with an 11-2 advantage in perfect serves.
 
Set two proved to be a closer fight than its predecessor as the teams were tide on ten occasions and traded leads five times. Neither team led by more than two points until the waning moments. With Oregon Tech leading 21-20 after a Kelsey Sampson kill, the Beacons rattled off four straight points to take a 24-21 lead as they benefitted from three attack errors by the Owls. This time it would be Reeder who put the set away with a kill.
 
Oregon Tech again had an early lead in the third set, going ahead 4-3 on a combo block from Mykala Rubey and Madisen Garlie. The Beacons responded with a 7-2 run to go ahead by four points and never looked back, leading by as many as seven points before claiming the win on their own twin block from Gabrio and Kayla Ping.
 
Gabrio never stepped off the floor on Friday, finishing her night with a team-high 12 kills, adding eight digs, four blocks and three aces. "Chandler really stepped up tonight, playing six rotations," said Rosin. "It was awesome to see her be a threat in the front row and the back row."
 
The defense was also led by the play of freshman defensive specialists Sydney Rothenbush (pictured) and Haley Damian who posted 11 digs apiece to lead NCU. Coach Rosin said, "I give a ton of credit to the back row, with Haley on the right sideline and Sydney on the left. They really kept us in the game and took a lot of momentum away from OIT and energized their teammates getting to a ton of balls."
 
Alyssa Dorr posted 31 assists and two aces and Chloe Davis also had three aces for NCU. Cassidy Winters finished with eight kills and three blocks while senior Middle Blocker Chelsea McGowan hit .350 with nine kills and four blocks. McGowan said, "The coaches did an excellent job preparing us for this game. They challenged us throughout the week and forced us to raise our level of play which was reflected in everything we did tonight.
 
"I can't even express how proud I am of my teammates. We played quality volleyball tonight and put into effect all that we have been working on. We worked through some lineup adjustments and a different rotation and we all kept solid heads on our shoulders and pushed for a positive outcome."
 
Oregon Tech (19-8, 5-6) was led by Garlie with six kills and six blocks. Whitney Webster also had six kills, coming off the bench to hit .500. Renee Baumann led the team with a match-high 12 digs and Tori Porter led all Owls with 16 assists.
 
Northwest Christian has now won seven of their last nine meetings with Oregon Tech including five in a row at home. They will look to take their momentum into Saturday's 2:00 pm clash with No. 10 Southern Oregon University. The Raiders are 16-3 with a 10-1 mark in the CCC, but lost to NCU in Eugene last season in three sets. Oregon Tech travels up the I-5 to Salem on Saturday to take on Corban University (2-10) at 5:00 pm.