PORTLAND, Ore.  – The Bushnell volleyball team dominated every facet of the match on Friday night as they swept a Cascade Conference road match against Multnomah University, 25-20, 25-17, 25-20.
 
Bushnell (6-1, 2-1 CCC) saw a host of freshmen step up on Friday as they accounted for 33 of the team's 52 points. The team combined to hit .207 and out-block the Lions, 10-2 to force the home team into a negative attack percentage for the match (-.062) with 24 errors to only 18 kills.
 
The Lions came out firing to open the night and had built a 19-14 lead in the first set before Bushnell went on an 11-1 run to close out the win.
 
Head Coach Jason Corwin said, "Multnomah played with a lot of energy and served really aggressively. It took a but for us to match that level of intensity and settle in to what we wanted to do on the court."
 
"They came out swinging and it surprised us at first," said junior Makenna Northern, who led the Bushnell attack with 28 assists. "This was not the Multnomah we had played before, but once we got our rhythm back and saw all they could do, we were able to finish the match strong."
 
Not looking for more drama, the Beacons jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the second set and never looked back, hitting .476 in the set with 12 kills and just two errors. Multnomah was able to keep things close in the third set, but Bushnell was able to avoid an extended evening, closing out their second victory of the CCC season.
 
Freshman Brooke Silvernail (pictured) took full advantage of her most extensive action thus far in 2021, leading all players with 13 kills. Freshman Matty Ladd had another stat-filling night in the Middle with six kills, five blocks and three service aces, hitting .714.
 
Filling in at the other Middle Blocker slot was freshman Sierra Jenkins who had herself a strong night as well, owning a piece of the five other blocks. The Bushnell defense also had a big night in the back row with a 43-31 advantage in digs, including a match-best 19 from senior Callie Wilkins.
 
Multnomah (1-3, 0-3) was led by Hannah McPhetridge who had six kills. Kamaile Labanon led the team with 11 digs while Rachel Bailey posted a team-best nine assists.
 
"We stayed emotionally consistent and found a way to score points tonight," added Corwin. "Our passing and defense put a lot of pressure on them but we will need to cut down on our errors for tomorrow night."
 
The Beacons will close out the Portland swing against Warner Pacific (0-6, 0-3) at 5:00 on Saturday.