ROCKLIN, Calif. – The Beacon Volleyball team ran out of gas on Thursday afternoon, dropping an intense five-set thriller to Pacific Union in their final game of the William Jessup Invitational. It was NCU's first loss of the season after knocking off the tourney hosts earlier in the day.
 
NCU d. William Jessup, 25-22, 17-2, 25-20, 20-14
 
Things started off well for the Beacons as they moved to 3-0 on the season with the four-set win over WJU. After splitting the first two sets, NCU took over, forcing the Warriors into 17 errors and a negative hitting percentage over the final two sets.
 
Head Coach Jason Corwin said, "We came out of a rocky second fired up and ready to play in the third. We did well at overcoming some early adversity and everybody really stepped up in the last two sets. We were able to elevate all phases of the game.
 
Senior Megan Van Marter led the Beacons with nine kills while hitting .471. Senior Laurie Salness also recorded nine kills on the right side while sophomore Claire Salness added eight kills and 13 digs.
 
Freshman Makenna Northern (pictured) led the team with 24 assists, adding ten digs while Junior Kayla Olson once again led NCU with 18 digs.
 
Pacific Union d. Northwest Christian, 15-25, 25-15, 18-25, 25-17, 15-12
 
Playing what ended up being a nine-set day, the Beacons were unable to keep their momentum going to the end, succumbing to the Pioneers in five sets. "We started out with a lot of energy," said Corwin, "then we had a lot of errors in the second set and started to realize how tired we were. There were some spurts of really good volleyball, we just had a hard time overcoming our fatigue in the end."
 
Claire Salness took over the offensive lead, posting a double-double with 13 kills and 11 digs. In her most substantial playing time thus far, Elle Verschingel added eight kills while Natalie Downes posted five.
 
Northern continued to show her versatility as she connected with her hitters 24 times, added 16 digs, and put down a team season-best five service aces. Olson finished her afternoon with another 20 digs.
 
The Beacons will be back in action next Monday, playing in a scrimmage at George Fox. On Wednesday the team will have their first official home game, playing host to a single-day round-robin tournament with Walla Walla University, New Hope Christian College, and Chemeketa Community College. NCU takes on Chemeketa in a scrimmage at 9:00 am and end the day taking on New Hope Christian College at 6:00 pm.