Box Score 1 | Box Score 2

RIVERSIDE, Calif. – The Crusaders came out firing on all cylinders Saturday, hammering their way past Azusa Pacific (Calif.) and tournament host Cal Baptist.

The Northwest Nazarene volleyball team finished the weekend as the only unbeaten team in the GNAC/Pac West Crossover Tournament – an eight-team tournament featuring five teams ranked in the Top 25 or receiving votes in this week's national poll – beating Azusa Pacific 25-11, 25-19, 25-11 to start the day, then finishing off the weekend sweep with a 25-14, 28-26, 25-21 victory over the host Lancers.

"We played the best whole match we have played all year," said NNU head volleyball coach Doug English following NNU's win over the Cougars to start the day.

"Our serving was great, which took them (Azusa Pacific) out of system. That got us a ton of easier transition ball to put away," English added.

Andrea Terpstra led the way with 14 of those kills while Elayna Rice added 10 kills for NNU (7-1 overall).

The kills started piling up early in the first set as setter Michelle Terpstra (36 assists) had a kill to snap a 5-5 tie, then Kendra Bodine and Madi Farrell each added a kill and Jacquelyn Johnson served up an ace in a 5-0 Crusader run.

From there, NNU cruised to the early one-set lead.
 

The second set was much closer, tied 16-all, before back-to-back Andy Terpstra kills sent the Crusaders on their way once again.

In the third and final set, a Farrell kill snapped an 8-8 score and ignited a 7-1 surge that sent NNU on its way to the sweep.

Taylor Roberts led the defense with 20 digs and had four service aces while Linnea Phillips also had eight digs for the Crusaders in the win.

"Linnea had  a great match for us defensively and Michelle set a great match and got everyone involved and in great places to score," English said.

In the final match of the weekend, the Crusaders took control of the opening set when a kill each from Bodine and Taylor VanValey ignited a 7-1 charge, breaking an 8-8 tie.

The host Lancers fought back in the second set and led 23-22 late when a kill each by Michelle Terpstra and Elayna Rice put NNU in front.

The Crusaders needed to battle to get the set, but finally prevailed on a Lancers hitting error for the two-set-to-none edge.

Cal Baptist again tried to battle back into the match, taking a 10-6 lead before a pair of Michelle Terpstra kills along with a Bodine kill and a tandem block from the Terpstra sisters helped give NNU momentum as the Crusaders fought their way to the straight-set win.

"We played almost flawless and were so focused throughout the match and took advantage of every opportunity we had to score a point," English said.

Andy Terpstra, Bodine and Farrell each had nine kills in the win while Michelle Terpstra dished out 39 assists, Roberts made 22 digs and Phillips added 10 digs for NNU.

The Crusaders now return home to host Central Washington on Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams. 

"The girls played great volleyball this whole weekend," said English. "To come out of our preseason with only one loss puts us in a great position for postseason."