EUGENE, Ore. – In their final regular season match against Corban University, Kayla Ping and Chandler Gabrio wanted to go out on a high note. With 23 combined kills it's safe to say they did just that in a 25-22, 25-21, 27-25 victory on Tuesday night.
 
The Beacons (11-9, 4-9 CCC) played a complete match, hitting .245 on offense while adding 50 digs and eight blocks on defense. Corban (8-11, 6-7) was held to .136 hitting and couldn't get over the hump despite keeping all three sets extremely competitive.
 
Head Coach Kelly Pitre said, "We have been working on finding a rhythm since switching to a new formation a few weeks ago. A consistent lineup has really helped and we have been playing great in matches and in practice. We've been playing against extremely tough competition and this past weekend against nationally ranked teams really got us ready for tonight against another really strong team."
 
After the Beacons held onto a lead throughout most of the first two sets, the third and final set would prove to be the most intensely contested battle of the evening as the teams fought through nine lead changes and 15 ties. The Beacons held a 22-20 lead after a Chandler Gabrio kill but an error and two Amber Parker kills later, it was Corban on top 23-22 and looking to stretch the match to a fourth set.
 
Junior Carissa Allen responded for NCU with back-to-back kills and the Beacons had their first match point. Corban fought back from that and one more match points before the Beacons were able to ice the victory with a Cassidy Winters kill and a final attack error from the Warriors.
 
Parker, the leading attacker in the CCC, posted a match-high 23 kills for Corban, adding 12 digs. The visitors also had a strong performance from Sloane Morrison who hit .500 in the middle with seven kills and one block. Madison McLain collected 33 assists and Haley Wells led all players with 18 digs.
 
Ping (pictured, left) led the Beacons with 12 kills and just two attack errors, hitting .345. Gabrio (pictured, right) had 11 kills along with four blocks and Taylor Burnett finished with 13 digs and four blocks. Winters added seven kills including five in the decisive fifth set. Freshman Setter Laurie Salness tallied a match-high 35 assists and had 18 in the third set as the Beacons collected 20 total kills.
 
After evening the season series with Corban, NCU will look to do the same against Walla Walla on Saturday night at 7:30 pm. The Wolves stole a five-set victory on their trip to Eugene last month. "If we continue to play at this high level, we are going to beat the teams that we had a hard time with in the first half of the season," said Pitre. "We've found ourselves and we've found our ability to finish out a match strong."