NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene volleyball ended their 2021 season on a high note on Saturday, taking down Seattle Pacific in a five-set thriller on Senior Day.
How It Happened
- Seattle Pacific narrowly eked out a 25-23 win in set one, but the Nighthawks came back to take the second set 25-21.
- The third set was the most tense of the afternoon, as it took NNU six extra points to finally pull out a 31-29 victory.
- The Falcons bounced back in set four, taking an early lead and winning 25-18.
- NNU would prevail in the fifth set, though, falling behind 4-2 but then outscoring SPU 13-5 over the rest of the frame to win 15-9.
Nighthawks Notes
- NNU finishes the year 7-19 overall and 4-14 in GNAC play, while Seattle Pacific ends their regular season at 15-10 and 11-7 overall. The Falcons still had an outside shot at an at-large NCAA postseason berth heading into the weekend, but the Nighthawks may have put an end to that chance with the upset victory.
- In their sixth five-set match of the season, the Nighthawks finally prevailed for the first time after dropping the other five.
- NNU honored a pair of graduating seniors before the match, Mattisyn Cope and Brooke Foster.
- NNU hit an incredible .467 in the fifth set, notching eight kills with just one error.
- The Nighthawks spread the offense around, with five players recording between nine and 12 kills.
- Gable led the team with 12 kills, also hitting .409 in the match and recording five blocks.
- Natalie Sullivan had 11 kills and 13 digs for her fourteenth double-double of the year.
- Tayler Markland had 10 kills and eight blocks, while Foster and Cope both notched nine kills.
- Mckenzie Lee led the team with 17 digs, also notching five blocks and 41 assists.
- Megan MacKinney had four aces to her credit in the match along with 14 digs.
