Eugene, Ore. - Sophomore Makenna Northern continues to climb to new heights, this time setting a new NCU single-match record with 58 assists as the Beacons took down Northwest University on Friday night, 26-24, 22-25, 25-23, 25-23. 
 
The Beacons (14-8, 6-7 CCC) trailed early on but used sizeable rallies in each of their winning sets to pull out the season sweep against the Eagles (10-10, 8-6). NCU held a 66-54 advantage in kills and had just one receiving error against the top serving team in the Cascade Conference.  
 
Struggling through five previous five-set matches in conference play, NCU was able to close out Northwest with a decisive fourth set, putting down 19 kills with just two attack errors as they hit .395. 
 
"This was a quality win tonight against a really good team and we had to have it," said Corwin. "It was very exciting what we were able to do tonight. That fourth set especially was some really good volleyball." 
 
A common area of challenge for the Beacons during parts of the season has been difficulty picking up the tip-ball on defense. Corwin was very impressed with his team's ability to change that narrative on Friday. He said, "Jolinn Daviscourt goes in tonight and gets 16 digs on the right side and really took away their tip. We have been so vulnerable with that and Northwest couldn't go to it tonight which really helped." 
 
NCU was led by Northern who added three kills and eight digs to her record-setting assist total. Earlier this season she tied the long-standing record of 57, doing so in five sets. This time she averaged 14.5 assists per set including an astonishing 17 assists on 17 first-set kills.  
 
Corwin said, "Makenna has been knocking on the door for these opportunities and obviously you need your hitters to put the ball down, but she kept us in rhythm all night. She made so many great decisions and I know she had fun slinging the ball around having the confidence that the hitters were going to take quality swings. What really impresses me about Makenna is not just the fantastic numbers, but her leadership skills. When we get into a lull, she's able to challenge her teammates in a perfect way to get them back on track." 
 
Finding four different hitters for at lead 30 attempts, Northern fed a wide-ranging offensive effort that saw multiple players put up impressive stat lines. Freshman Cambria Lingenfelder posted a double-double with 13 kills and 16 digs while Claire Salness added a double-double of her own with 10 kills and 13 digs.   
 
The middle blockers were dominant as well, with Payton Jones and Natalie Downes combining for 20 kills and a .425 hitting average. They also had a hand in six of the teams eight blocks.  
 
Freshman Halle Neumann equaled the match-high with 15 kills and Kayla Olson tied for the lead with 21 digs.  
 
Junior Hannah Lord, who didn't suit up the first time the teams played back in September, led the Eagles with 15 kills.  Sarah Howlett added 11 kills and four blocks with a .425 hitting percentage while Abigail Broussard had 10 kills and four blocks of her own. Cristina Hegarty posted a double-double with 10 assists and 21 digs in the loss. In the middle, Kylie Szczepanski and Keann White each had match-highs with five blocks. While added seven kills.  
 
The Beacons will have an opportunity to get back to .500 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play on Saturday as they take on Evergreen (10-13, 8-6) at the Morse Event Center at 7:00 pm.