EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team picked up their first signature win of the season on Tuesday, knocking off No. 24 ranked Corban University at home, 25-23, 18-25, 25-22, 19-25, 18-16).
 
The Beacons were facing their fourth straight ranked opponent in conference games and they saved their best effort for last, riding a five-set roller-coaster that featured nine lead changes in the final set including one set point for Corban and three for NCU before the finally put it away on a Corban attack error.
 
"I am incredibly proud of our finishing effort tonight," said head coach Kelly Pitre. "We adjusted to a challenging start to the conference season and it feels so good to be at home and defend our court. The Cascade Conference is the strongest I've ever seen it this season, so every win is going to be important."
 
The Beacons (4-7, 2-3 CCC) hit .185 in the match and had at five different players take 20 or more attempts as junior setter Maci Beierle controlled the offensive effort with a season-high 50 assists. She tied for the fifth-highest single-match total in NCU history and added 11 digs for the double-double. Five different players ended the match with double-digit digs for the home team.
 
NCU got things rolling in a big way, scoring the first five points of the match and rolling out to a 20-9 lead in the opening set. Corban seemed to have a wake-up call, however, and rattled off an improbable 14-3 run to roar back and tie the set at 23-23. The Beacons finished things off with a kill by Kendall Bergsten before an error on the visitor's side of the net gave NCU the final point.
 
The pendulum swayed to towards the Warriors in set two as they posted their best hitting set of the night. A 5-1 lead turned into a 10-4 lead and the Beacons never got closer than seven from that point on.
 
NCU grabbed the momentum back in the third set, collecting 16 kills while committing just two attack errors. Bergsten continued to emerge as the Beacons best weapon, going 6-for-8 without an error from the outside. Beierle had 14 assists in the set as well.
 
Apparently the north side of the net was the place to be on Tuesday as Corban traveled back to that side for set four and evened the match at two sets apiece. Amber Parker did the bulk of the damage for the Warriors, collecting five kills and hitting .364. NCU meanwhile was kept to a negative hitting percentage with ten errors to just nine kills.
 
Fittingly, the fifth set proved to be the most dramatic of the night. A 2-0 edge for Corban and a 7-5 lead for the Beacons were the only times the teams were separated by more than one point in the entire stanza. The combatants were tied fourteen times and switched leads nine times. The Beacons grabbed a 14-13 edge for the first match-point, only to see a serve go into the net. Corban followed with a Kill by Alaina Gentili but the Warriors also had an errant serve to make it 15-15.
 
The Beacons finally emerged with three of the final four points to secure the victory, continuing a run of six straight years that NCU has claimed a win over their rivals in the friendly confines of the Morse Event Center.
 
When the dust settled, the Warriors (7-4, 3-2 CCC) had been led by Gentili with a match-high 20 kills as she hit .386. The junior didn't have an attack error until the fourth set and also led the team with three blocks. Amber Parker added 15 kills and three aces, Lauren Condon threw in three aces and 17 digs and Madison McLain contributed 49 assists. Haley Wells was busy on the back row all evening, finishing with a match-leading 25 digs.
 
Bergsten ended the night with the best numbers for the Beacons, collecting 19 kills and 12 digs. Taylor Burnett added 16 kills while Cassidy Winters finished with 10 kills and six aces. Winters also led the team with a .286 attack percentage. Haley Damian dug up 18 spikes in the match, tying her season high.
 
NCU will continue the conference season this weekend, hitting the road for the first of five straight matches away from home. The Beacons begin against Walla Walla University on Friday at 1:00 pm.