Box Score



NAMPA, Idaho — It's been an emotional ride for the Crusaders with back-to-back sweeps of GNAC rivals in battles for first place.

Add in the emotions of "Senior Night" and a tough foe in Simon Fraser and yes, any win is a good win.

The 15^th-ranked Northwest Nazarene volleyball team overcame the emotional rollercoaster ride its been on, overcame the emotions of "Senior Night" and overcame the Clan, beating Simon Fraser 25-9, 16-25, 25-13, 21-25, 15-10 at the Johnson Sports Center on Saturday in Great Northwest Athletic Conference action.
 

"To get a win and to have everyone involved in some form, it was good," NNU head volleyball coach Doug English said.

A dozen Crusaders played in the win, and every one contributed on a night that started out honoring seniors Taylor Roberts, Rebecca TenHaken, Michelle Terpstra and Kaitlyn Tuholski.

"It's nice to get to celebrate Michelle and Kaitlyn and Rebecca and Taylor Roberts for once, they've done so much and meant so much to this program," English said.

Riding the emotions of honoring their seniors, the Crusaders (21-2 overall, 14-1 GNAC) stormed through the first set, taking a 10-3 lead on an Andrea Terpstra kill, going up 18-6 on a Michelle Terpstra kill, and finishing off the first-set win with a Taylor VanValey kill.

But the Clan (14-8, 8-6), who gave NNU a tough time a month ago in Canada, responded by dominating the second set, taking a 17-7 lead on a tandem block by Madeline Hait and Christine Howlett en route to a win that evened the match.

NNU's response?

And overpowering performance in the third set that saw NNU go up an amazing 15-4 on an Elayna Rice kill and cruise to the victory.

A win that seemingly should have put all the momentum on the Crusaders bench, but instead only lit a fire in the Clan, who snapped an 8-8 tie with a Christine Howlett kill and took the fourth set to even the match once again.
 

In the fifth and decisive set, the Crusaders took control as back-to-back kills from Andy Terpstra and Rice snapped a 7-7 tie, and NNU never looked back, completing a perfect season at home.

"It's nice to see the girls do what they're suppose to do and stay focused," English said of his team's play in clutch situations.

Now NNU hits the road for its final three matches of the season, playing at Montana State Billings on Thursday, at Seattle Pacific on Saturday, then playing at Central Washington on Nov. 15 in the regular-season finale.

The Crusaders need just two wins out of those three road matches to claim their first-ever GNAC championship and an automatic berth to the NCAA Division II National Tournament.

"It's really exciting," English said. "We've worked so hard to get to the point where we can say we win two matches we get to be conference champions. And while two matches sounds easy and nice, I think it's going to be a grind like it was tonight."

Rice led the way in Saturday night's "grind-it-out" victory with 17 kills and 15 digs, while Michelle Terpstra had 46 assists, 16 digs and six kills in her final home match.

Tuholski led the defense with 17 digs and added six kills in her "Senior Night" performance, while Roberts had 13 kills and six assists in her final home match for NNU and TenHaken had two kills and three blocks in her "Senior Night" farewell.

VanValey finished with 12 kills and Andrea Terpstra added 11 kills in the win for NNU, as well.