EUGENE, Ore.  – Finally setting foot on their home court for a counting game, the NCU volleyball team made the most of it on Friday night, sweeping The Evergreen State College 30-28, 25-18, 25-23 in Cascade Collegiate Conference action.
 
The Beacons (5-1, 2-1 CCC) had a strong defensive night, collecting eight blocks and out-digging the Geoducks 63-59 while holding the visitors to .047 hitting. Evergreen (4-6, 1-2) had seven blocks of their own including four in a hotly contested first set that saw the lead change hands three times along with ties on eight different occasions.
 
NCU was led offensively by freshman Natalie Downes who collected a match-high ten kills. Senior Keri Schwarz added eight kills and junior Megan Van Marter contributed seven as both middle blockers hit .333. The pair also had four blocks each as did freshman Kasey Campbell.  
 
Campbell also owned 12 digs but Haley Damian was the Beacon leader on the back line with 16 digs. The senior is now just 28 digs away from becoming just the third NCU player to ever hit the 1000-dig plateau. Maci Beierle had another strong night distributing the ball as all five other starters had at least 15 swings apiece. She also posted a double-double with 14 digs and a match-best 36 assists.
 
Chloee Hunt took charge for the Geoducks, collecting eight kills and four blocks. Matalasi Laban added a double-double with 19 assists and ten digs while Tori Wegdahl collected a match-high 23 digs in the loss.
 
The Beacons will return to the Morse Event Center on Saturday night, taking on No. 25 Northwest University. Evergreen heads to Salem to meet No. 15 Corban. Both games are scheduled for a 5:00 pm first serve.