EUGENE, Ore. – The Northwest Christian University Beacons knocked off Warner Pacific on Saturday evening in straight sets, 28-26, 25-14, 25-23, to claim their sixth win in their last seven games and tie the school win-record in the process.
 
Moving to 18-9 on the year, the Beacons equaled the win total from the 2012 season, a year in which the team when 10-8 in conference and finished fifth in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. Tonight the Beacons also move to 10-8 in CCC play, and they also move up into fifth place with two matches remaining in the regular season.
 
One night after breaking the single-season block record, junior Natalie Downes became NCU's all-time leader in the category, collecting seven more blocks to move to 238 for her career. She tops the previous record of 235, set by Chandler Gabrio from 2012-2015.
 
Another single-season record also went by the wayside on Saturday as sophomore Makenna Northern (pictured) posted another 30 assists, moving to 961 and breaking the former record of 937 set by Cori Wallace in 2013.
 
It may have been a three-set win for the Beacons but it was anything but easy as the Knights fought point-for-point early. The visitors out-hit NCU in the first set before the Beacons pulled out the extra-point win.
 
The Beacons cruised in set-two and held on in the third set despite a .355 hitting clip for Warner Pacific. The Knights ended the night out-digging the Beacons 48-39.
 
After the match, head coach Jason Corwin said, "This was a quality win against a team that set up a strong offense and dug a lot of balls. They pushed our defense but we were able to see some resiliency tonight. We stuck to the game play and executed when we needed it most.
 
Boasting the accomplishments of Saturday's record-setters, Corwin added, "Makenna has done a great job of running the offense all season. We are excited for her record and we look forward to seeing several more with her name on them before her career is done. Natalie's presence at the net was a key factor tonight and has been all season. For her to break the NCU blocking record on a night when she had seven blocks is only fitting.
 
Downes and Northern weren't the only players making noise on Saturday for the home team. Freshman Halle Neumann registered a match-high 16 kills, hitting .306 while Claire Salness added nine kills and three block assists. Kayla Olson led all players with 15 digs and three service aces.
 
The Knights (5-17, 4-14 CCC) were led by Haley Yoder, hitting .316 with nine kills. Audree Gormanson and Gennah Schoen added eight kills each with Schoen producing a team-high four blocks. Matalasi Laban recorded a double-double in the loss with 18 assists and 14 digs.
 
The victory sets up an exciting final week for the Beacons. Currently, NCU is tied with The College of Idaho for fifth place, one game behind fourth-place Northwest and one game ahead of seventh-place Evergreen. With the top-six teams qualifying for the playoffs, NCU is one win away from clinching a post-season berth. NCU is also in position to potentially take fourth with two wins and some help, which would give them a home playoff game for the first time in school history. The Beacons travel to face No. 12 Corban University on Tuesday night and then close out the regular season on Saturday night against Walla Walla. Both games will start at 7:00 pm.