Box Score




NAMPA, Idaho — The Crusaders put on quite a show early on, a thrilling comeback that had the fans at the Johnson Sports Center expecting more.

But the night didn't finish with that the same kind of celebration as the Northwest Nazarene volleyball team fell 28-30, 25-19, 25-13, 25-21 in Great Northwest Athletic Conference play to visiting Central Washington in the Crusaders home debut.

"We didn't pass as well as we needed to pass, which put a lot of pressure on our hitters to make really tough swings in tough situations," NNU head coach Doug English said, adding of the Wildcats, who are No. 2 in the nation in blocks per set (2.70), "and they're a really good blocking team, and so I think all that kind of helped them.
 

"When you're predictable it's a lot easier to get some blocks, and I think that happened."

Blocking was just one key for the Wildcats, who had nine of their 13 blocks in the final three sets.

The other key turned out to be the Crusaders own offensive woes, at times, as eight hitting errors in the fourth set allowed Central Washington to erase a 15-11 NNU advantage and complete the road win.

"Our offense wasn't flowing as well as we needed it to flow in order for us to score some points," English said.

At times NNU (8-2 overall, 1-2 GNAC) look potent on offense, though, as back-to-back kills from Mari Thomas and Kendra Bodine staved off a pair of set points in the opener, tying it, 24-24.

NNU fended off three more set points before a Bodine kill tied it, 27-27, then a trio of Wildcats miscues gave the opening comeback win to the Crusaders.

Trying to capitalize on the momentum of the late rally, NNU forged a 14-11 lead in the second set on a Hailey Cook kill, but this time it was the Wildcats (6-5, 2-1) who rallied, taking the lead in the second set for good, up 20-19, after a Crusader hitting error.

The Wildcats jumped up 6-0 in the third set and never looked back, taking the lead in the match, but the Crusaders responded in the fourth, grabbing a 15-11 lead on one of Bodine's match-high 20 kills. Bodine also had a match-high 22 digs for NNU.

But back-to-back tandem blocks from the Wildcats highlighted a 9-1 run that signaled the end, with a final block by CWU finishing off the four-set win.

Thomas added 15 kills and 14 digs for the Crusaders, who are back in action quickly, hosting Montana State Billings on Thursday at 7 p.m.

Farrell added 13 kills for NNU, libero Shayli Siegfreid had 15 digs, and Cook finished with 49 assists and 11 digs.