EUGENE, Ore.  –The Northwest Christian University volleyball team came within just a few points of pulling out one of the biggest wins in program history, and set the tone for a strong Cascade Conference season, falling to Eastern Oregon University on Friday night, 20-25, 25-15, 25-12, 20-25, 15-12.

Playing one of their best sets of the season, NCU led by as many as six points in the opener and survived a late charge for the five-point win. NCU collected 16 kills in the set and had just one error, hitting .405.

The Mounties quickly woke up in the second and third sets and looked to have taken control of the match but in the fourth, NCU tightened the screws to make a match of it. Tied at 8-8, a kill from Cambria Lingenfelder and back-to-back combo blocks from Natalie Downes and Halle Neumann gave NCU a lead that they wouldn't relinquish.

Head Coach Jason Corwin said, "We really got after it in the fourth set. I am so proud of this team, being down 2-1 to a really, really good team and being able to come out and take it. We fought all the way to the end and competed and I can't ask for more than that out of our players."

The Beacons refused to go down quietly in the fifth. After falling behind 13-8, the Beacons scored three straight, forcing an Eastern Oregon timeout with the Mounties leading 13-11. The next NCU serve went long and after a kill from Taylor Gould made it 14-12, Eastern closed out the hard-fought victory with a kill from Breanna Shaffer.

The Beacons (8-2, 0-1 CCC) hit .138 for the night and posted a 15-9 advantage in blocks against the no. 6 ranked blocking team in the country. Payton Jones (pictured) led that effort, collecting eight blocks including two solo stuffs. Downes added seven blocks and hit .273 with eight kills.

The NCU defense put on an impressive show with 99 digs as three players finished with over 20. Makenna Northern deftly maneuvered the offense with 42 assists and still managed to lead all players with 27 digs. Kayla Olson added 26 digs and Lingenfelder posted 25 to go with her match-high 14 kills. Halle Neumann produced 12 kills and five blocks as the Beacons continue to get help from up and down their 20-woman roster.

"Our block and our defense was a highlight tonight," said Corwin. "To out-block the top blocking team in our conference and to have three kids over 20 digs was some fantastic work. We did a great job tonight serving them out of system and hitting them out of system and now we just need to clean up how we defend their out-of-system swings."

Eastern (11-0, 1-0) was led by Shaffer who came off the bench to equal the 14 kills of Lingenfelder. Megan Bunn popped off 13 kills and tied for the team lead with 26 digs. Setter Madison Pilon also had a double-double with 47 assists and 17 digs, adding five blocks and three service aces. Cambree Scott led the team with seven blocks and added 11 kills. Kiley McMurtrey threw in 26 digs of her own.

Friday's match was the first on-campus home event for NCU since students returned to campus and the crowd did not disappoint with 285 in attendance. "Our fans and our student body were great tonight," said Corwin. "The energy was phenomenal and gave us a true home court advantage."

The Beacons return to the court at 5:00 pm Saturday to take on No. 12 College of Idaho. The Yotes fell in three sets on Friday to No. 17 Corban. EOU heads to Salem to take on Corban, also at 5:00 pm.