Box Score 1 |
Box Score 2 ROCKLIN, Calif. - The 2017 NCU Volleyball campaign launched on a strong footing on Thursday with a pair of victories to open the William Jessup Invitational. The Beacons began with a 3-0 victory over the University of Antelope Valley before taking down the hosts, 3-1.
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In their debut foray against Antelope Valley, the Beacons brushed off a shaky match at the service line to sweep the victory 25-17, 28-26, 25-22. NCU hit .207 as a team, collecting seven blocks and 42 digs to counter 14 service errors.
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"We had a bit of a shaky start," said head coach
Kelly Pitre. "We were still working out the nerves and we made it our goal to get stronger throughout the day."
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Numerous first-timers made immediate impacts for the Beacons including
Natalie Downes who posted a match-high eight kills.
Claire Salness chipped in seven kills and seven digs and
Megan Van Marter was one of three Beacons to have three blocks. Veteran leadership prevailed as well with senior
Maci Beierle posting 31 assists and
Haley Damian collecting 11 digs.
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William Jessup put NCU to the test in their second match, stretching the visitors to four sets as NCU won 25-19, 26-24, 20-25, 25-21. The Beacons added nine more blocks and 75 digs and ran an efficient offense with 17 kills in each of the first two sets.
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Coach Pitre said, "Maci ran a quick tempo offense for us and our hitters did a great job going hard and aggressive. Jessup's defense was up the task today and we struggled to put the ball down against them and their effort level was hard to match, but it was great to get out of there with two wins today."
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Salness once again stepped up, leading the Beacons with 13 kills and 12 digs to post the first double-double of the young campaign. Freshman
Kasey Campbell added 12 kills in the second match of her career as well. "Kasey and Claire had a big impact for us today in both the front and back row," said Pitre.
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Beierle posted a double-double as well with 37 assists and 15 digs and it was
Kayla Olson leading the back row with 15 digs and two service aces. Senior
Keri Schwarz collected six blocks to go with her seven kills and Downes added eight kills, hitting .294.
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With two wins under their belts, the newest Beacon squad will close the tourney on Friday against Simpson University at 12:00 pm. Pitre said, "This tournament is a great opportunity for us to grow as a team and do some fine tuning before we start conference. We have a great fan base of family and friends here to cheer us on and we can feel their support. This group of young women are so fun to be around and it is going to be a fun year laughing with them off the court and watching them grow into stronger athletes on the court."
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