Box Score



NAMPA, Idaho – As the ball hit the net, it signaled an ant-climatic end to an emotional victory for the Crusaders.

A battle the Northwest Nazarene volleyball team had been waiting for since last November turned into a lopsided affair as the Crusaders rolled past No. 11 Central Washington, 25-17, 25-23, 25-20, Thursday night at the Johnson Sports Center on the NNU campus in the Great Northwest Athletic Conference opener for both teams.

"I think the kids played awesome," NNU head volleyball coach Doug English said. "Our outside hitters, Elayna Rice and Kendra Bodine just dominated tonight. It was fun to be able to dig a ball, set it outside and they were able to go to work."
 

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The Crusaders outside tandem of Bodine and Rice racked up 17 and 13 kills, respectively, to lead NNU (8-1 overall, 1-0 GNAC) to the sweep.

About the only bump in the road for NNU came in the second set, as the Wildcats (7-2, 0-1) grabbed a 16-14 edge on back-to-back hitting errors by the Crusaders.

A Madi Farrell kill capped a 4-1 comeback, though, as NNU led the rest of the way in the set, finally finishing it off with a Rice kill and a tandem block by sisters Andrea and Michelle Terpstra.

The first set was nowhere near as dramatic as NNU – which saw the Wildcats, who finished three games back of NNU in the GNAC standings, advance to the NCAA Division II National Tournament last November while the Crusaders stayed home – came out rolling.

A Rice kill made it 11-4 early, setting the tone for the night, and a Bodine kill made it 20-12 as the Crusaders cruised to a quick one-set lead in the match.

After battling to win set No. 2, the Crusaders surged midway through the final set as another tandem block by the Terpstras put NNU up 9-7, and a Rice kill stretched the Crusader lead to 16-12.

NNU maintained that comfortable lead all the way to the finish, which came on a net serve by Central Washington's Lindsey Milner.

"The girls were focused for three games and played well," English said. "(Setter) Michelle (Terpstra) got the ball to the right people and we executed our game-plan perfectly.

"It was great, it was exactly how we wanted it to go, we couldn't ask for more."

Terpstra – the reigning GNAC Offensive Player of the Week - finished with 42 assists in the win while Rice added 18 digs to lead the defense and Linnea Phillips added 14 digs for the Crusaders.

NNU now hits the road for matches at Western Oregon on Saturday and St. Martin's on Monday, part of a busy three-match in five-day stretch to open GNAC play.