ROHNERT PARK, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene volleyball kept their strong start to 2022 rolling on Thursday with a 3-0 sweep (25-21, 25-22, 25-16) of Academy of Art.
How It Happened
After a back-and-forth start saw NNU go down 9-7 early, the Nighthawks rattled off five-straight points with a
Natalie Sullivan ace making it 12-9 NNU. The Nighthawks were able to hold Art U off from there, staving off a late challenge for the four-point set victory.
NNU again went down early in set two, falling behind 9-5 before an 8-1 run put the Nighthawks up 13-10. Things would stay close for the rest of the frame, with a couple of ties, but NNU pulled away late for the 25-22 victory on back-to-back kills from
Miya Koch and
Maren Dent.
Leading 10-9 in the third set, the Nighthawks tallied six-straight points and never looked back with 15 of the final 22 points going their way in the 25-16 win, securing the sweep.
Nighthawks Notes
- The Nighthawks hit .267 as a team, including .355 in the second set, while holding Art U to .088 for the match
- Natalie Sullivan had 10 kills, nine digs, and four blocks to lead NNU
- Anna Gable had a great match, hitting .583 with seven kills and no errors on 12 attempts
- Maren Dent had 13 digs and six kills, while Mckenzie Lee added 11 digs and 30 assists
- With eight digs, Caroline McMahon moved into eighth on NNU's career digs list in the rally scoring era with 1143 in her career
- NNU improves to 4-1 on the season, their best start since 2017
Next Up
The Nighthawks will make the short trip over to San Rafael for the final three matches of the NorCal Kickoff, first taking on Holy Names on Friday morning at 10:30 a.m. Pacific.
