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VB Saelens
Al Kawashima

Women's Volleyball

Beacons Outlast Eagles in Five Set Marathon

Box Score KIRKLAND, Wash. – Northwest University and Northwest Christian battled it out for two and a half hours and it was Northwest Christian coming away with a five set, 3-2 (25-21, 22-25, 27-25, 21-25, 12-15), Cascade Conference victory tonight in front of a packed NU Pavilion.
 
All five sets were tightly contested with Northwest U pulling off the first set which saw 8 ties. NU finally broke away with the last tie score at 15-15, as they would outscore the Beacons 5-1 for a 20-16 lead and would go on to win the set on a Mattie Jo Johnson Kill.
 
Northwest Christian would come back strong in set two taking a 10-6 lead. But the Eagles would come back to tie the set at 18-18. It would be NCU outscoring Northwest U 7-4 down the stretch for the win to tie the match at 1-1.
 
Set three would be just as close with the two teams battling back and forth until the final tie at 25-all and Sarah Howlett and Amanda Waterman ending the set with back to back kills.
 
The Beacons would come storming back in the fourth set to break out to a 12-8 lead. The Eagles would come back to tie the set three times and take a brief lead, 16-15, until NCU answered with four straight points to regain the lead at 19-16. They would maintain the lead the remainder of the set with Claire Salness getting one of her 17 kills to end the set and tie the match at 2-2.
 
Northwest Christian would take control of the fifth set after trailing early, 4-2. They would go on an 11-1 run including five straight kills by Salness, who was the difference in the match, as NCU would lead 13-5. NU would fight back with a 7-1 run to make it a 14-12 score, but the Beacons would not be denied and Megan Van Marter's kill would give the Beacons the exciting five set win.
 
Northwest U (14-6, 8-4 CCC) was led by Amanda Waterman's 13 kills and 7 digs. Three players: Mattie Jo Johnson, Sarah Warner and Audrey Saelens, all finished with 12 kills. Morgan Pilon had 36 assists and 10 digs with Warner adding 13 digs. Alysanne Van Dyke had a match high 43 digs.
 
In addition to Salness' 17 kills and 18 digs, Northwest Christian (15-4, 10-4 CCC) got 15 kills from Kasey Campbell and 11 from Kei Schwarz. Maci Beierle had a match high 55 assists while adding 16 digs. Haley Damian led the Beacons with 30 digs. NCU hit .161 for the match, but it was clutch kills when it counted that made the difference.
 
"Tonight's match was hard fought on both sides of the net and NCU demonstrated great determination and earned the win," said Steven Bain, NU head coach. "Based on the numbers, NCU's serving was one of the differences in the match as we never really stabilized in S-R and we had a lot of tough swings. But even though we lost the match, our ladies fought hard and didn't quit. I'm sure we will learn from our efforts and be a better team the next time we take the court."
 
Next Up: Northwest U remains at home and will host Corban tomorrow night at 7 p.m. while Northwest Christian travels to Olympia, Wash., to play the Evergreen State College.
 
 
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Players Mentioned

Mattie Jo Johnson

#10 Mattie Jo Johnson

MB
6' 0"
Senior
Morgan Pilon

#7 Morgan Pilon

S
5' 9"
Senior
Alysanne Van Dyke

#19 Alysanne Van Dyke

DS
5' 10"
Senior
Sarah Warner

#9 Sarah Warner

OH
5' 10"
Junior
Amanda Waterman

#11 Amanda Waterman

OH
5' 10"
Senior
Audrey Saelens

#12 Audrey Saelens

MB
5' 10"
Junior
Sarah Howlett

#21 Sarah Howlett

OH
5' 11"
Freshman

Players Mentioned

Mattie Jo Johnson

#10 Mattie Jo Johnson

6' 0"
Senior
MB
Morgan Pilon

#7 Morgan Pilon

5' 9"
Senior
S
Alysanne Van Dyke

#19 Alysanne Van Dyke

5' 10"
Senior
DS
Sarah Warner

#9 Sarah Warner

5' 10"
Junior
OH
Amanda Waterman

#11 Amanda Waterman

5' 10"
Senior
OH
Audrey Saelens

#12 Audrey Saelens

5' 10"
Junior
MB
Sarah Howlett

#21 Sarah Howlett

5' 11"
Freshman
OH