Boxscore

BELLINGHAM, Wash. - The Northwest Nazarene University volleyball team defeated Western Washington University in five sets on Thursday night in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference match in Bellingham.

The Crusaders (12-7, 5-2 GNAC) offered a balanced offensive attack against the Vikings as Lindsay Grant and Cammy Dranginis each finished with 14 kills, Carly Dranginis had nine, Alaina Barber had eight, and setter Amy Higginson finished with six.

NNU's Haley Hevern led all defenders with a career-high 36 digs, and Grant added 23, as the Crusaders continue to provide a steady defense that leads the nation in digs per set at 19.20. 

"Carly played very well tonight in her first collegiate match as an outside hitter and Haley just played great defense again for us," commented NNU head coach Jared Sliger. 

The Vikings (11-7, 4-3 GNAC) were led by a match-high 29 kills from Marlayna Geary, with both Emily Jepsen and Kathryn Mertens reaching double-figures with 12 and 11 kills, respectively.  Allison Gotz had 31 digs to lead the WWU defenders, as each team finished with 122 digs.

WWU out-hit the Crusaders .184 to .157, however, the Vikings had 15 service errors, compared to just four for NNU.

Tied in the fifth set at 11-11, a service error gave the Crusaders the lead for good as Cammy Dranginis pounded home a kill off an Amy Higginson assist and the Red and Black would get a kill from Carly Dranginis and the match winner from Grant to finish off the road victory.

Higginson finished with 34 assists.  "It just felt like we were able to get the right set at the right time," Higginson commented.  "We were able to run slides to Cammy and get Lindsay in front with some quick ones that really got us going."

The win marks the second-straight year the Crusaders have defeated the Vikings in Bellingham and moves NNU alone into second-place in the GNAC standings, one-half game behind Seattle Pacific and one-half game in front of Alaska Anchorage.

The victory sets up a big mid-season showdown on Saturday night as the Crusaders will travel to Seattle Pacific at 7:00 p.m. for a chance to move into the top spot in the conference.