ST. GEORGE, Utah – The Northwest Nazarene volleyball team swept Dixie State on Saturday to earn its first victory of the season.

Brooke Foster had a third consecutive strong match hitting the ball, finishing with 16 kills and nine digs in the 25-19, 26-24, 25-16 victory.

"We had great energy and focus today," NNU volleyball coach Doug English said. "Megan (Nelson) did a good job of getting everyone involved in the offense. Our middles scored some points which allowed Brooke to have a great match."

After cruising in the first set, the Nighthawks appeared headed to a second set loss before rallying late.

NNU trailed 22-17 and 23-19 before Foster had a kill, Lexi Ward a kill, an attack error by Dixie and Megan Nelson had a kill to tie the set at 23-23.

After an attack error by the Nighthawks gave Dixie State set point, Abbey Blum had a kill, an attack error led to an NNU point and Foster finished off the rally with another kill.

"We took care of the little things like serving the right people and hitting at the setter and it made a huge difference in the match," English said.

Natalie Sullivan finished with nine kills and 11 digs, while Nelson had 30 assists and seven digs. Caroline McMahon added 17 digs and three aces.

NNU is back in action at 11 a.m. MDT on Thursday against Sonoma State at the West Region Showcase at Humboldt State.