Northwest Nazarene University Athletics

Rough day in Colorado as 20th-ranked Crusaders fall twice in 5 sets

9/4/2015 11:19:00 PM | By: Mike Stetson, Sports Information Director

Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 GOLDEN, Colo. – It was a heartbreaking start to the season for the Northwest Nazarene volleyball team.

On a day featuring two battles of the nation's best, the 20^th-ranked Crusaders twice went to five sets before falling in both contests at the Courtyard and Residence Inn by Marriott Oredigger Volleyball Classic on Friday.

NNU started the day with a 25-23, 21-25, 25-21, 15-25, 15-5 setback against No. 19 Cal State San Bernardino.

The Crusaders then closed the day with a 22-25, 23-25, 25-21, 25-21, 16-14 loss to host and No. 8-ranked Colorado School of Mines.

"We learned that we are close to being a very good volleyball team," NNU head volleyball coach Doug English said. "We played two of the best teams in the country and came up a couple plays short.

"We will be angry about how close we were tonight and then tomorrow be ready for two more tough matches."

The Crusaders continue play in the tournament against Minnesota State-Mankato and Colorado Christian on Saturday.

Against the Coyotes, NNU continually battled back, getting an Elayna Rice kill then a Rice ace to spark a 4-0 late surge in the second set that turned an 18-16 deficit into a 20-18 Crusader lead.

That helped NNU even the match at a set apiece.

In the fourth set, NNU again rallied, this time building a comfortable 14-9 lead on a Taylor VanValey and Madi Farrell tandem block and a commanding 21-12 edge on a Jenna Caywood block, en route to forcing a fifth set.

But CSUSB used an early 5-0 surge in the decisive final set, forging a 7-2 lead and holding on for the victory.

Kendra Bodine led the way in the opener with 18 kills and eight digs for NNU (0-2), which also got 15 kills and 12 digs from Rice and 10 kills and five blocks from Farrell.

Looking to bounce back, the Crusaders silenced a home crowd of 1,500 by jumping up 5-2 against Colorado School of Mines on a VanValey and Farrell block and never let the lead slip away.

CSM took control of the second set, going up 14-9, before NNU battled back, tying it 21-21 on a Hailey Cook kill, grabbing a 24-22 edge as Rice hammered down a ball, and taking a two set to none lead on a VanValey set-winning kill.

But the Crusaders remained a few plays short in the next two sets, leading to another five-set thriller.

It looked like NNU would prevail, up 13-9 following a Bodine kill, but the Orediggers refused to lose and scored the final five points of the match for the win.

"Our goal is to be good in December and today was a good step in that direction," English said of the two close contests.

Rice again had a big match against the host Orediggers (2-0), pounding down 21 kills, adding 17 digs and four blocks.

VanValey added 13 kills and six blocks against CSM, and on the day Cook dished out 96 assists while adding in 18 digs for NNU.

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