EUGENE, Ore. – Junior Chandler Gabrio made her 2014 debut on Wednesday night and she made it a good one, leading NCU to a three-set sweep of Pacific University, 25-22, 25-22, 25-14. NCU has now opened the season with back-to-back sweeps for just the second time in school history.
 
Gabrio was dominant from the first serve to the last, accumulating 13 kills, five blocks and four service aces. She went without an error until the third set and finished with a .414 hitting percentage.
 
The team, however, took a little time getting warmed up as they battled through an even first set with the Boxers. Pacific looked to be pulling away as they grabbed a 20-15 lead off six consecutive points. NCU responded with nine of their own, moving ahead 24-20 before finished with the three-point victory. Gabrio had five kills in the set with four coming during the late rally.
 
It took a while to put Pacific away but set two belonged to the Beacons, holding the Boxers to just .026 hitting as they forced ten errors.
 
The defensive effort only improved in the third and final set as Pacific managed nine kills along with 13 errors for a  -.114 attack percentage. Fueled in part by five blocks, NCU cruised to the win.
 
Head Coach Kelly Rosin said, "It was a total team effort tonight. Everybody was able to get in and see some court time. Our focus since fall camp started was to start strong and finish strong. We've noticed that we've started slow the first few matches, but definitely finished strong tonight."
 
NCU (2-0) finished the match hitting .189 as a team, collecting 32 kills, 8 service aces, 51 digs and nine blocks. Behind Gabrio's efforts, senior Middle Blocker Chelsea McGowan also had a brilliant performance, collecting ten kills with a match-high .429 hitting clip. She was also in on three of the team blocks. Senior Alyssa Dorr added 24 assists and junior Chloe Davis made her debut with a match-high 14 digs.
 
Pacific (2-3) was led by sophomore Una Areta, collecting 12 kills and eight digs. Emily Farnham collected 24 assists and Lia Zablan led the team with 14 digs. Kelly Wahl ended the night with a team-high four blocks.
 
Northwest Christian will be back in action this Friday night when they open Cascade Collegiate Conference play on the road at Southern Oregon University. The first serve is scheduled for 7:00 pm in Ashland.