SEATTLE – Northwest Nazarene volleyball earned a huge 3-1 victory on the road Saturday at Seattle Pacific, defeating the Falcons 25-21, 15-25, 25-20, 25-23 for their fourth-straight win.
NNU moves to 16-5 overall and 9-4 in GNAC play with five matches remaining in the regular season schedule. The Nighthawks are in sole possession of third in the GNAC standings, and the first NCAA regional rankings come out this Wednesday as the postseason draws near.
How It Happened
NNU started well in set one with an early 5-1 lead, but the Falcons would rally back to tie things at seven. The Nighthawks then rattled off five-straight points, but SPU was able to once again bounce back and even the score at 14. The Nighthawks finally pulled away with a late 4-0 run, and a
Miya Koch kill sealed the set win at 25-21.
NNU broke out well again in set two with the first four points, but SPU would chip away and eventually lead 15-14. It was all Falcons from there, as the home team went on a 10-1 run to close the set including the final seven points in a row.
Set three was much more of a back-and-forth battle, tied at 15 before NNU scored four in a row to go up 19-15. The lead stayed around that margin for the remainder of the set, with a
Natalie Sullivan kill putting the frame away.
NNU and SPU would trade blows for much of set four as well, with the two teams tied at 19 late in the set. The Nighthawks would then get kills from
Olivia Wright and
Natalie Sullivan followed by a pair of aces from
Helen Sullivan to go up 23-19. NNU withstood an SPU rally with
Natalie Sullivan sealing the victory on a kill to win the set 25-23.
Nighthawks Notes
- The Nighthawks avenge a 3-1 loss in Nampa at the hands of Seattle Pacific earlier this season
- NNU is now on a four-match winning streak, their second of at least that length this season as they won eight in a row from late August into September
- NNU hit just over .200 in the match at .201 while holding SPU to .120
- The Nighthawks were stellar at the net, recording 14 total blocks
- Natalie Sullivan had a double-double of 13 kills and 10 digs, hitting .290 for the match
- With her eighth kill of the match, Sullivan hit the 1,000-kill mark for her career, the seventh NNU volleyball player in the program's DII history to achieve the milestone
- Olivia Wright had 10 kills and just missed a double-double with eight blocks, a new career-high
- Miya Koch had a double-double with 10 kills and 14 digs along with six blocks, also a career-best
- Caroline McMahon led the team with 17 digs and four aces while Maren Dent chipped in 14 digs
- Mckenzie Lee tallied 38 assists, five kills, eight digs, and four blocks
- With no conference tournament in the GNAC for volleyball, NNU will need to earn one of eight berths from the West Region to make the NCAA Tournament, with the first set of regional rankings coming out this Wednesday
Next Up
The Nighthawks return to Nampa for their final two home matches of the 2022 season, hosting nationally-ranked Western Washington on Thursday night and Simon Fraser on Saturday.
