NAMPA, Idaho – Northwest Nazarene volleyball earned a huge sweep over Central Washington to open GNAC play on Saturday, taking the match by scores of 25-19, 25-19, and 26-24.
How It Happened
The Nighthawks fell behind 9-5 in the first set, but would fight back and eventually go on a 9-2 run to take a 21-16 lead. After the Wildcats scored three in a row to cut the lead in half, NNU closed the set with four straight points, including a kill and an ace from
Natalie Sullivan.
The momentum carried over to set two, with the Nighthawks taking the first four points and jumping out to a 6-1 lead. NNU led for the whole set, with an
Anna Gable kill finishing off the frame at 25-19.
Set three went back and forth until a 4-0 run by NNU made it 10-6. CWU bounced back and had a 4-0 run of their own to take the lead back at 16-14. The Wildcats would maintain the lead nearly to the end, going up 24-21.
The Nighthawks refused to go to four sets, however, scoring five in a row to win the set and the match.
Natalie Sullivan had three kills in the run, with the other two points coming on a Wildcat attack error and a block from
Mckenzie Lee and
Anna Gable.
Nighthawks Notes
- NNU opens GNAC play with a 1-0 record and improves to 8-1 on the season
- The win snapped a three-game skid for the Nighthawks against the Wildcats, with the last victory coming in Ellensburg in 2019
- Heading into the weekend, Central Washington was receiving votes in the latest AVCA Division II Top 25
- The Nighthawks continued their impressive attack this season, hitting .340 including an incredible .552 in the second set while holding CWU to .189
- NNU spread the attack around, with three Nighthawks registering double-digit kills: Olivia Wright at 13 and both Natalie Sullivan and Miya Koch at 10
- Koch hit .667 for the match, making no errors in 15 attempts to go along with her 10 kills
- Wright also hit .611 and added three blocks
- Lee had seven blocks and 35 assists
Next Up
The Nighthawks continue conference play on the road next week, visiting Saint Martin's on Thursday and Western Oregon on Saturday.
