ASHLAND, Ore. - Northwest University dropped their first two matches in the Paul Elliott Invitational at Southern Oregon University today by identical 3-1 match scores.
 
In the first match at 12:00 p.m., Menlo scored a 23-25, 25-21, 25-14, 25-13 four set victory.
 
In sets three and four, it would be all Menlo as they would break out to a 15-8 lead in the 3^rdset after Courtney Calicdan's kill. The Oaks would maintain a 7 point lead the remainder of the set for the win and go up 2-1 on NU. The final set would see Menlo again race out to a 15-8 lead on a Calicdan kill and two Northwest errors. Two straight Calicdan kills would give the Oaks their largest lead at 23-11 as they would close out the set and match on Emily Tonascia's kill.
 
Northwest U. (3-4) was led by Dakota Adams' 9 kills. Sarah Stoker added 8 kills while Ashton Arbuthnot led the Eagles with 30 assists and Leia Roy collected 20 digs.
 
Courtney Calicdan had a match high 21 kills for Menlo while teammate Nicole Yap added 11 kills. Calicdan added 13 digs while Yap had 18 digs for the double-doubles. Haley Webb had a match high 44 assists for the Oaks and Renn Isobe had a team high 19 digs.
 
"Menlo played a solid match and after the first set, their ball control was terrific and they were in system and we weren't," said Steve Bain, NU head coach. "I thought our players battled though, and I need to do a better job of putting the players into situations that will allow them to be more successful."
 
Match two against Lewis-Clark State was closely contested as L-C State outlasted Northwest 25-18, 24-26, 27-25, 25-21.
 
The most exciting set of the night came in the second set. With L-C State at set point and leading 24-20, the Eagles scored 6 straight points for the come-from-behind victory. Dakota Adams and Sarah Stoker had kills in the final push and Adams added a service ace to aid in the win.
 
The 3rd set was close the entire way as a Dakota Adams kill and an L-C State error would make it a 12-12 score. Three straight Lewis-Clark errors would give NU a 21-17 lead, but LCSC would not go away and would chip away at the Eagles' lead to make it 23-22 following a kill by Leubbert-Kennedy. Arika Awack's kill would give NU a 24-22 lead, but once again LCSC would fight back to take a 25-24 lead after a kills by Treneisha Doyle, an NU attack error and a service ace by Naomi Hernandez. Another kill by Leubbert-Kennedy and an attack error by the Eagles would give LCSC the 27-25 victory and a 2-1 set advantage.
 
In the final set, it looked as though Lewis-Clark State would cruise to the victory after posting an 18-11 lead, but Northwest would come back to pull to within two, 18-16, before L-C State would go on a 5-0 run to increase their lead to 23-16. Hannah Hanson's kill would make it 24-21, but an NU service ace would give the set and match to the Warriors from Lewiston, Idaho.
 
Arika Zwack had 7 kills for Northwest U. (3-5) while teammate Leia Roy had 33 digs for the Eagles. Ashton Arbuthnot added 28 assists and Dakota Adams contributed 14 digs for NU.
 
Luebbert-Kennedy led the Warriors with 14 kills and added 10 digs for the double-double. Darby Santos had a team high 25 assists while Chelsea Sears had a match high 37 digs. Jenna Loheed added 20 digs and Naomi Hernandez chipped in 20 assists for the Warriors.
 
Northwest continues play tomorrow with their final match against Simpson University from Redding, Calif. at 3 p.m.