ASHLAND, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team ended the 2017 regular season in dramatic fashion on Saturday, defeating the Raiders of Southern Oregon University in five sets, 25-22, 13-25, 25-21, 22-25, 15-5. In the victory, senior Keri Schwarz broke the NCU single-season block record of 83 set ten years ago by Cotie Howard during the 2007 campaign.
 
Northwest Christian (16-9, 11-9 CCC) out-hit the home side .263-to-.249, despite a shaky second set. Southern held the edge in kills 66-65, assists 64-62, and digs 76-69, but were unable to overcome the Beacons high-powered attack in the match.
 
Both teams started off the night with their most-efficient sets of the match, with NCU hitting .436 and SOU .366. The first contest saw 8 tie scores and four lead changes, with the Beacons gaining control at the 13th point and closing out the set a three-point victor. The Raider defense came on strong in the second, holding NCU to a negative mark of -.118. SOU also had four team service aces, winning the set handedly.
 
The Beacons bounced-back in a big way in the third, rebounding to hit .371, downing 17 kills with just four attack errors. Both sides hit well in the fourth, with SOU coming out on top by three, led by Dani Johnson who had six of her 18 kills in the set.
 
NCU dominated in the deciding set, hitting at a .435 clip while downing 10 kills without a single attack-error. Schwarz ended the night on a kill, sealing the victory for the Beacons and sending them into the conference playoffs on a high note.
 
Maci Beierle had a career night for the Beacons, collecting 56 assists and 16 digs. Her 56 assists fell just one short of the school record.
 
Megan Van Marter led NCU's attack with 16 kills on .484 hitting, while also snuffing three Raider shots. Freshman hitter Natalie Downes hit .333 on her way to 14 kills, also ending with three blocks. Kasey Campbell had 11 kills in her second game back from injury, and Schwarz had ten with just one attack error, hitting .409 on the night.
 
Haley Damian led the Beacons back row with 17 kills. Sydney Rothenbush was right behind her with 16, also scoring three assists in the victory.
 
The Raiders (15-10, 12-8) got a big performance from Taylor Ristevedt, who had a career-best 23 kills on .391 hitting, also contributing four blocks. Natalie James had 35 assists, while teammate Hannah Bogatin had 24. Three Raiders ended the night with double-digit dig totals, led by Ashlyn Flynn who had 30.
 
The Beacons now have a few days off to prepare for their first-round post-season contest, entering the Cascade Collegiate Conference tournament as the #6 seed. Third seed Eastern Oregon will host NCU on Tuesday, November 7 at 7 p.m.