Box Score



NAMPA, Idaho — It was a test, but one the Crusaders past with an "A" in terms of results.

The No. 17 Northwest Nazarene volleyball team got a tough fight from Western Oregon, yet battled through to sweep the Wolves, 25-23, 25-22, 25-23, in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action Saturday night at the Johnson Sports Center on the NNU campus.

"That's a really hard-fought match, Western Oregon's a really tough team and they play us tough every time we play them," NNU head volleyball coach Doug English said. "They're super scrappy and make you work really hard."

The hard work paid off for NNU (17-2 overall, 10-1), though, as the Crusaders won their 10^th straight at home and maintain their hold on first place in the GNAC with the victory as they prepare for a long and tough trip to Alaska next weekend to play at Fairbanks on Thursday, then battle for first place at Alaska Anchorage on Saturday.

"Going into the next two weekends where we have Anchorage and Western (Washington), it's great to play a match like that and have some adversity and see our kids come through when everything isn't working for us," English said.

Things went well early as NNU grabbed an 18-12 lead on a Taylor VanValey kill and had a set point after an Andrea Terpstra kill and a ball-handling error on the Wolves.

But Western Oregon (2-17, 0-11) rattled off four straight points, making the first-set finish a bit more dramatic.

A tandem block by Andrea and Michelle Terpstra ended the drama, putting the Crusaders up one set to none.

It was more of the same in the second set, where NNU trailed 11-8 but slowly inched away, using an Elayna Rice kill and two more from Andi Terpstra to finish off the set and take a commanding lead in the match.

But the most dramatic, and impressive, rally by the Crusaders came in the third set as NNU trailed 15-10 and 20-16.

An Andi Terpstra kill sparked a late charge by NNU, a Madi Farrell and Michelle Terpstra tandem block closed the
Wolves lead to 21-20, and a kill by Farrell sparked a 5-1 finishing push by the Crusaders.

Kendra Bodine finished off the dramatic comeback, and the sweep, with a kill.

Andrea Terpstra and VanValey led the way with 10 kills each for NNU, while VanValey also had five blocks.

Taylor Roberts added 15 digs and Michelle Terpstra had 32 assists in the win.