NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene volleyball started 2022 off with a bang on Thursday night, sweeping Rollins 3-0 by scores of 25-15, 25-17, and 25-16 in the season opener.
How It Happened
The teams went back and forth over the first 20 points, but then an 8-1 run by the Nighthawks put NNU up 17-11. NNU kept pulling away from there, scoring on five of the last six points with a kill from
Miya Koch sealing the set victory.
NNU started the second set strong with momentum from the set one victory, jumping out to leads of 8-2, 11-3, and 16-5 before Rollins would put up more of a fight for the rest of the frame. The Tars would end up recording their highest point total in a set of 17, but the Nighthawks took the 2-0 lead.
Set three was nearly identical to the first, with the teams battling through the opening points before NNU went on a run midway through the frame. This time it was an 11-4 stretch that put the match away for good as the Nighthawks went up 23-12.
Rollins came back with four-straight points, but back-to-back kills from
Natalie Sullivan finalized the sweep.
Nighthawks Notes
- NNU hit .308 as a team compared to holding Rollins to .057
- Olivia Wright led the charge in her NNU debut, registering a kill on 14 of her 20 attempts with just one error for a .650 attack percentage, tied for the sixth-highest single-match mark in the program's rally-scoring history
- Wright also had five blocks, including a massive solo block in the third set that got the crowd on their feet
- Natalie Sullivan added 15 kills and hit .303 while leading the team with 11 digs
Next Up
The Nighthawks will continue action in their home tournament with two matches on Friday, hosting Azusa Pacific at 2:00 p.m. and Texas A&M International at 7:00 p.m.
