CALDWELL, Idaho – The Crusaders made new coach Doug English's first match a memorable thrill ride.

Shaking off some early-season jitters and miscues, the Northwest Nazarene volleyball team rallied to beat long-time Canyon County rival The College of Idaho, 22-25, 25-21, 13-25, 25-21, 15-8 on the road Saturday afternoon.

"It's just a matter of getting use to competition," English said of his team's ever-building momentum in the match. "We've been playing against ourselves for so long then playing against somebody who really, really wants to beat you; I think that's the difference in getting into it and getting use to the competition.

"I'm proud of them for the way they competed and the way they executed," added English of his team's victory, which won't officially count as his first win as the Crusaders played the match as an exhibition.

The Coyotes, ranked No. 6 in the preseason NAIA Top 25 poll, started strong as an ace by Elisa Brochado put them up 15-8 in the opening set. The closest the Crusaders got was 22-20 down following a Michelle Terpstra kill.

A ball-handling error midway through the second set by The C of I gave NNU its first lead of the match, 13-12, and after an Andrea Terpstra kill evened the set at 17-17, back to back hitting errors put the Crusaders in front 19-17.

Taylor VanValey then pounded down three kills in the final eight points, including the final one of the set in a 25-21 Crusader win that evened the match at a set apiece.

The Coyotes (0-5), who were playing their home opener, regained control in the third set as a tandem block by Liz Myers and Kylee Nawahine put The C of I in front 14-8. Abbey Fenton's kill gave the Yotes a 17-0 edge, and a Randi Sturtz kill made it 23-12 en route to The C of I victory.

With the match on the line in the fourth set, the Crusaders kept it close until a serving error by The C of I broke a 17-17 tie, then three straight kills by Andrea Terpstra put the exclamation point on the set win.

NNU rode that moment to a quick 4-1 edge on a Michelle Terpstra kill in the fifth and decisive set, held off a Coyote rally, then a pair of kills each by VanValey and Kaitlyn Tuholski during a 6-1 run gave the Crusaders a match point.

A tandem block by Tuholski and Andrea Terpstra finished off the win for NNU, which next opens the season at Dixie State on Friday and Saturday.

VanValey led the Crusaders with 14 kills and six blocks in the win while Elayna Rice added 10 kills and Andrea Terpstra had eight kills and seven blocks.

"I thought Taylor VanValey was great, and the stats show she was great," English said. "I thought Taylor Roberts did a nice job digging balls (25 digs), Michelle Terpstra set a real nice match (42 assists) and Jenna Caywood had some huge blocks (5 blocks) at the end."

Liz Myers led the Coyotes with 15 kills, Brochado added 13 kills, Sierra Porter had 52 assists and 13 digs and Janel Porter added 29 digs for The C of I.