EUGENE, Ore. – Junior Natalie Downes moved into first-place on the NCU single-season block list on Friday night as the Beacons swept Multnomah University, 25-19, 25-15, 25-15 in Cascade Conference action.
 
Her first block game just a few points into the match, giving her 94 on the season to top the record set just last season by Megan Van Marter. She finished the night with five blocks, putting another huge milestone right around the corner. As a junior, Downes is now just five blocks away from the all-time record of 235 which has stood for four seasons.
 
Despite early leads in the first two sets for the Lions, the win was never in doubt for the Beacons who hit .253 on the night while holding Multnomah to a .000 attacking clip. The visitors had 27 kills and 27 attacking errors, ten of which came on Beacon blocks.
 
Downes also led the offensive effort in the victory, hitting .400 with eight kills. Jessica Northcutt also had eight kills and was in on three blocks. Senior Katie Allen proved to be fairly unstoppable on Friday, going without an error as she collected seven kills.
 
Makenna Northern secured 25 assists on the night and now needs just seven to break the Beacon's single-season record. Kayla Olson led all players with 17 digs.
 
The Lions (2-17, 1-16 CCC) were led by Taylor Howie, scoring a match-high 11 kills. Amanda Holm posted a team-high 13 assists while Kamaile Labanon and Alyssa Mehalovich registered 12 digs apiece.
 
NCU moves above .500 in conference and jump over The Evergreen State College into sixth-place in the CCC at 9-8. The Beacons also improve to 17-9 on the season and can tie their single-season win record on Saturday night when they face Warner Pacific College at 5:00 pm. The Lions also play at 5:00 on Saturday, taking on Corban University in Salem.