Bushnell University

EUGENE, Ore. – The NCU volleyball team may not have walked away with a victory this weekend, but a pair of well-played losses to a pair of the top teams in the CCC set NCU up well for the final push in chase for a conference playoff spot.
 
"We didn't get a 'W' this weekend, but we learned a lot about ourselves and competed at a higher level," said head coach Kelly Pitre. "We've raised the standard of Beacon Volleyball and we will take that into the next match."
 
The weekend began in La Grande on Friday night where the Beacons competed with No. 7 Eastern Oregon University, falling in three sets 25-22, 25-11, 25-21. Coach Pitre said, "We gave a fight tonight against EOU. I'm proud of how well we battled in the first and third sets. We have been working to find rhythm on the court and we are starting to click at times. Eastern is a force to be reckoned with and I was very impressed with their line of attack."
 
NCU struggled to find offense against the Mounties, especially during a tough second set that saw eleven attack errors and just five kills. The Beacons, however, matched EOU block-for-block with each team coming away with eight stuffs. Chandler Gabrio led NCU with six kills, hitting .357 with four blocks. Taylor Burnett collected five kills and four blocks while Cassidy Winters added five kills and three blocks. Laurie Salness posted a double-double with team highs of 16 assists and 12 digs.
 
Eastern  (18-1, 13-0 CCC) was led by Amanda Miller, coming off the bench for 15 kills and .500 hitting. Rachelle Chamberlain collected a match-high 29 assists and Piper Cantrell led all players with 13 digs.
 
A strong defensive effort continued on Saturday night as the Beacons fell to College of Idaho, 25-22, 25-23, 25-18. NCU had five players collected double-digit dig totals and the service game was on point with nine aces. Salness had another double-double with 25 assists, 11 digs and a match-high four service aces.
 
Also posting strong dig numbers were sophomore Libero Haley Damian with 16 and sophomore defensive specialist Sydney Rothenbush with 13. "The defense was really our highlight tonight," said Pitre. "Haley and Syd took away a lot of momentum from the C of I offense."
 
The Beacon offense was led once again by Gabrio, collecting seven kills and four blocks. Burnett posted six kills, 11 digs and four blocks while Winters and Carissa Allen each added six kills.
 
College of Idaho (12-9, 10-3) was led by Kylie Porter, collecting 15 kills and six blocks while hitting .467. Her sister Sierra gave the Yotes a 20-20 performance with 33 assists, 20 digs and four blocks. The C of I had nine blocks as a team.
 
NCU (10-9, 3-9 CCC) will return home on Tuesday night with a key CCC contest against Corban University at 7 p.m.