Box Score

ELLENSBURG, Wash. – It was a fitting finish to an unforgettable season.

Now bring on Nationals!

The 11th-ranked Northwest Nazarene volleyball team battled back from a two set to one deficit to score a 27-29, 25-13, 19-25, 25-20, 15-10 win on the road at Central Washington, wrapping up a near-perfect regular season.

"It's a great way to head into the postseason," NNU head volleyball coach Doug English said. "We were tested in all kinds of ways tonight and made plays when we needed to."

Now, the GNAC champion Crusaders – who wrapped up the league crown and an automatic berth to the NCAA National Tournament last weekend – only have to wait and wonder one more day about where and who they will play next.

Many expect the "where" will be at the Johnson Sports Center on the NNU campus, but the announcement of the NCAA Tournament field and host sites won't be made until 8 p.m. (MT) on Sunday.

The Crusaders (24-2 overall, 17-1 GNAC) wrapped things up by winning a true battle, staving off five set points in the opener, and earning a set point of their own up 27-26 following one of 20 kills in the match by Madi Farrell, before the Wildcats (19-7, 12-6) finally took the set.

NNU responded in dominating fashion in the second set, taking a 7-0 lead on a Michelle Terpstra kill and a 16-5 lead on a tandem block by Farrell and Taylor VanValey en route to evening the match.

The Wildcats once again made their push for the upset, using a 5-0 run to snap an 11-11 tie in the third set, then CWU held on to take a two set to one lead in the match.

But the Crusaders – 4-0 in five set matches prior to Saturday, including in exhibition play - wouldn't be denied.

One of Andrea Terpstra's match-high 21 kills sparked a 7-0 run for NNU, which snapped a 7-7 tie and put the Crusaders well on their way to another five-set match.

Once in the fifth, NNU remained perfect, as a Farrell kill snapped a 9-9 tie.

Farrell then teamed with phenomenal freshman counterpart Kendra Bodine for a tandem block, before another Farrell kill and another Bodine and Farrell team block made it a 13-9 Crusader lead.

One more Bodine and Farrell block set up match point, and a VanValey kill put an end to the dramatic comeback win for the Crusaders.
"It was a struggle and we figured out how to win," said English.

A big key was the play of Andy Terpstra and Farrell, as the Crusader middle blockers combined for 21 and 20 kills, respectively, career highs for each player, while Terpstra added 11 blocks and Farrell had nine, also career highs for both players.

"Madi Farrell and Andy Terpstra made our offense go and couldn't be stopped," English said.

Michelle Terpstra added a big piece to the NNU offense as well, as the senior setter dished out a career-high 61 assists in the win while adding in 10 digs and nine blocks.

And it was a career-best night for senior libero Taylor Roberts, as well, as she made a career-high 40 digs in the win, while Linnea Phillips added 19 digs, Kaitlyn Tuholski made 18 digs and Elayna Rice had 17 digs for NNU.