PORTLAND, Ore.  – The Beacons are 4-0 for just the second time in school history after taking down Multnomah University in three sets (27-25, 30-28, 25-19) in the Cascade Collegiate Conference opener for both schools.
 
The Lions (0-5, 0-1 CCC) edged NCU in nearly every statistical category, but the Beacons got the win anyway, improving to 15-0 all-time against MU.
 
Multnomah put up a fight all night long and showed that they were going to give the Beacons all they could handle in the first set, rallying from a 24-21 deficit to tie the game on three consecutive kills. NCU finally put the extended set away with a kill from Kasey Campbell and a combo block from Megan Van Marter and Maci Beierle.  
 
The Lions held a 24-21 lead of their own in the second set but it was the visitors turn to show some resolve as back-to-back kills from Claire Salness (pictured) knotted the set. The teams swapped points through a 28-28 tie before a kill from Carissa Allen and an MU error put the Beacons ahead two sets to none.
 
NCU was able to gain a little breathing room in the third set, jumping out to a 15-8 advantage. Multnomah again made things interesting, however, clawing back to within two points on three different occasions. With the score sitting at 21-19, Multnomah crumbled with three errors surrounding another Salness kill and the Beacons escaped with their 13th all-time sweep of the Portland school.
 
Campbell, Salness, and Keri Schwarz had eight kills each for the Beacons (4-0, 1-0) and Natalie Downes hit .444 with a five-kill night. Beierle handed out 32 assists, Haley Damian led with 12 digs and Schwarz posted three blocks in the win.
 
The Lions had a trio of players with double-digits kills (Sydney Amundsen with 12, Miranda Halverson 11, and Patty Batoon 10), while Marissa Rhodes handed out 37 assists.  Sabrina DeJesus-Bair had 16 digs and Halverson and Maile Kam added 10 apiece, while Madysen Trout and Batoon had three block assists each.
 
NCU will return to action on Saturday, traveling across the city to take on Warner Pacific at 5:00 pm.