Written by: Clayton Hashley
 
Eugene, Ore. – Northwest University (13-9, 9-4 CCC) beat the Northwest Christian Beacons (7-12, 2-10 CCC) in five tight sets on Friday evening. This was the Eagles' eighth straight conference win!
 
Northwest's Sarah Warner commanded the team with 16 kills and 22 digs. Audrey Saelens was also a force to be reckoned with at the net, racking up 10 kills and 9 blocks for the Eagles. Keann White had a team-leading 19 kills.
 
After dropping the first set 19-25, the Eagles won the next two sets (25-23, 29-27). They lost the fourth set 21-25 but recovered to win the last set in the game by a very close margin of 15-13.
 
The Beacons' Claire Salness had a great game, getting 21 kills and 17 digs for her team, although it was not enough, as the story in this game was the Eagles' ability to fight back under pressure and maintain their conference winning streak.
 
Northwest head coach Steve Bain remarked, "Everyone in the CCC knows that NCU is a much better team than their record shows, and we knew that this was going to be a tough match.  Indeed it was, as we struggled tonight in serve-receive, due in no small measure to the pressure that NCU applied from the service line. As a result, we struggled to find a rhythm offensively and had to rely on our defense to keep us in the match. Fortunately, our ladies were up to the task and able to make enough plays when the match was on the line to come away with the win. We have no time to enjoy the victory, though, because we have another very tough opponent tomorrow at Corban."