PORTLAND, Ore. – Junior Cassidy Winters (pictured) capped off a strong weekend on Saturday night, hitting .286 with four blocks as the Beacons fought off a resilient Multnomah team for a 25-17, 18-25, 25-15, 25-20 victory. NCU remained alive in the CCC playoff hunt as a result.
 
Multnomah (2-19, 0-18 CCC) made the most out of their final home game of the season as they claimed their first set of the Cascade Collegiate Conference season, winning the second. It was also MU's first ever set win against the Beacons. The Lions hit .250 in the set and forced the Beacons into eight errors. NCU recovered to take the final two sets to avoid the upset bid.
 
The Beacons (14-11, 7-11 CCC) guarantee themselves a .500 season with the win. They were led by Kayla Ping, posting a double-double with 12 kills and 17 digs. Winters finished with ten kills and closed out her weekend with eight total blocks as she had one solo and three assisted efforts on Saturday. Haley Damian added 17 digs and Taylor Burnett contributed 14 as NCU out-dug the Lions, 77-72. Marsha Poischbeg added two more service aces and led all players with 34 assists.
 
Head Coach Kelly Pitre said, "Multnomah played great defense against us tonight and played with a ton of heart and effort. We were able to come back in a couple of sets when we were down. Sydney Rothenbush provided some aggressive serving which really helped us tonight and Taylor Burnett's defensive presence was big for the second straight match."
 
The Lions were led by Patricia Batoon, coming off the bench to lead all players with 15 kills and two solo blocks. She hit .500 in the match with just two attack errors. Miranda Halverson added nine kills while Devyn Sigurdson led all players with 21 digs. Marissa Rhodes had a double-double with 31 assists and 11 digs.
 
NCU returns to action on Friday night, playing host to Southern Oregon University at 7:00 pm. The Beacons may still be alive in their chase for a post-season bid, but their chances are definitely on life support. The team is currently tied with Warner Pacific for seventh place as both teams sit two full matches behind Oregon Tech with two matches to play.
 
In order to sneak into the post-season for the first time since 2013, they will need a loss for Warner Pacific against either Evergreen State or Northwest, a loss for Oregon Tech to Corban on Friday night, a win against Southern Oregon on Friday night and a sweep over Oregon Tech on Saturday. This would force all the necessary tiebreakers to fall into NCU's favor.