EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University volleyball team was firing on all cylinders on Friday night as they cruised to a 25-19, 25-14, 25-18 victory over Multnomah University in the Cascade Collegiate Conference opener for both teams.
 
The Beacons (6-2, 1-0 CCC) had a fluid offense, hitting .326 as a unit while out-digging the Lions, 49-37. Multnomah (1-7, 0-1) struggled on the attack, hitting just .019.
 
NCU's biggest statement came in the second set as they held the Lions to just six kills while forcing 11 errors. Towards the end of the set, senior Megan Van Marter took over, recording a block on four consecutive points.
 
Van Marter finished the night with 10 kills, hitting .643 as she went nearly the entire night without an error. Natalie Downes led the Beacons with 11 kills and hit .562 with just a pair of errors.
 
Kayla Olson had a career-best 21 digs to lead all players. No other Beacon had more than the five produced by Makenna Northern (pictured), who also led the team with 18 assists. Haley Meili added another 16 assists while posting a match-high three aces.
 
The Lions were led by Sydney Amundsen, collecting ten kills while hitting .364. Marissa Rhodes led all players with 20 assists and Rachel Leshikar recorded a team-leading 12 digs.
 
The Beacons will be back in action on Saturday at 5:00 pm when they welcome in Warner Pacific University. Multnomah heads to Salem at that same time to visit Corban University.