ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Northwest Nazarene volleyball could not pull out a victory in the final game of the regular season on Saturday night, falling at Central Washington 3-1 (22-25, 16-25, 25-20, 17-25).
The Nighthawks finish at 16-10 overall and 9-9 in GNAC play.
How It Happened
NNU and CWU were tied at eight in the first set, but the Wildcats then went on an 8-1 run to take a seven-point advantage. The Nighthawks responded immediately with a 7-1 run of their own, including aces from both
Natalie Sullivan and
Caroline McMahon, cutting the deficit to just one at 17-16. NNU would not quite be able to regain the lead, though, as CWU pulled away for the 25-22 win.
Set two belonged to the Wildcats, as they started hot and kept building their lead throughout the frame. The Nighthawks would cut it to five, 21-16, on an
Anna Gable kill, but CWU then scored the final four points of the frame to take it 22-16.
NNU came out swinging in set three, jumping out to leads of 5-1 and 9-4 after another ace from McMahon. CWU made things interesting with a late run to cut the NNU lead to 21-19, but the Nighthawks converted on four of the final five points including kills from Gable and
Miya Koch along with a
Mckenzie Lee ace.
The Nighthawks kept up the strong play early in set four, taking an 11-8 lead after a 6-0 run. The Wildcats would take eight of the next 10, however, going up by three at 16-13. CWU would hold off any NNU comeback attempt from there, slowly building their advantage to eight, taking the set 25-17 and winning the match.
Nighthawks Notes
- The Nighthawks were in the discussion for an NCAA postseason bid for most of the season, but fell out of the West Region rankings last week
- NNU was one of the most improved teams in the GNAC and across Division II, earning nine more wins than last season (7 in 2021, 16 in 2022) and five more in conference play
- NNU had 12 aces in the match to just two for Central, with the 12 tying for the second-most in a four-set match in NNU's rally-scoring history
- Caroline McMahon, Natalie Sullivan, and Maren Dent each had three aces, with McMahon passing Lindsay Grant '10 for most career aces in NNU's rally-scoring history at 111
- McMahon also had 29 digs to lead the team
- Olivia Wright led the team in kills with 11, followed by 10 from Maren Dent, who had a double-double with 18 digs
- Anna Gable added six blocks and seven kills
