ELLENSBURG, Wash. – Northwest Nazarene volleyball came out strong to take the first set against No. 17 Central Washington on Saturday, but the host Wildcats took the next three frames to win 3-1.
NNU moves to 7-8 on the season and 3-4 in GNAC action.
Central seemed to be pulling away in the opening set, taking a 20-16 lead late. NNU turned the tables, though, with a 6-0 run that culminated in a
Megan MacKinney ace to go up 22-20. The Nighthawks and Wildcats traded points the rest of the way, with NNU taking a 25-23 victory on a
Madi Smith kill.
CWU came out firing to begin set two, however, taking the first four points and cruising to a 25-18 win. Set three was much of the same, as the Wildcats pulled away throughout the set for another 25-18 victory.
Central kept their momentum going into set four, taking an early 7-2 and remaining up by five at 16-11. NNU would not go down without a fight, though, responding with an 8-1 run to earn a 19-17 advantage after back-to-back kills from
Londyn Giles and
Sarah Lyons. CWU would answer with a run of their own, however, taking eight of the next 10 points to take the set 25-21 and win the match.
Miya Koch led the offense with 15 kills, followed by Giles with 12 and Lyons with 10.
Four Nighthawks were in double digits in digs, with Koch leading the way at 14, Giles at 13, and both
Maren Dent and
Caroline McMahon with 12.
NNU will remain on the road next week, heading up to the Last Frontier to take on Alaska Fairbanks on Thursday and Alaska Anchorage on Saturday.
