Box Score

MONMOUTH, Ore. — A night after battling their way to a five-set win, the Crusaders were on cruise control.

Elayna Rice led the way with a match-high 12 kills for Northwest Nazarene as the defending Great Northwest Athletic Conference champions rolled to a 25-15, 25-20, 25-17 win at Western Oregon on Saturday.

"We played well and made it an easier match for ourselves," said NNU head volleyball coach Doug English, whose team won a grueling match at Concordia in five sets on Friday night.

"Our hitters were great and made good choices and got a ton of kills," NNU's coach added. "Hailey (Cook) set a good match that put our hitters in good spots."

Madi Farrell added 11 kills for NNU (7-7 overall, 4-2 GNAC), while Kendra Bodine had eight kills and 15 digs, Linnea Phillips had 14 digs and Cook dished out 37 assists.

Back-to-back kills from Rice snapped a 4-4 tie in the opening set and got NNU rolling on a 6-1 run, and the Crusader lead just kept growing until a Wolves hitting error finished off the first set.

Bodine provided the spark for NNU in the second set, pounding down three kills sandwiched around another by Cook, to snap a 16-16 tie, and send the Crusaders on their way to another set win.

In the finale, a Taylor VanValey kill put NNU on top 4-1 early, back-to-back Farrell kills made it 10-5, and a Wolves hitting error stretched the Crusader lead to 21-14 en route to the sweep.

A sweep that sends NNU into a two-match home-stand with the momentum of a two-match win streak as the Crusaders prepare to host unbeaten GNAC front-runner and No. 8 Alaska Anchorage on Thursday at 7 p.m. at the Johnson Sports Center.