SEASIDE, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene volleyball rallied from a 2-1 set deficit to defeat Minnesota State-Mankato 3-2 in the 2023 season opener at Cal State Monterey Bay's Otter Invitational.
The first set stayed in the Mavericks' favor for most of the frame, but NNU was able to fight back and even the score at 23. The teams would be tied at 24, 25, 26, and 27 before a
Maren Dent kill and MSU Mankato attack error sent the first set to the Nighthawks, 29-27.
Minnesota State broke away early in the second set and didn't look back to even the score at 1-1. Set three was much closer for most of the frame, with the two teams tied at 15 over halfway through, but the Mavericks then went on a 9-3 run that gave them the set win and 2-1 lead.
Set four started similar to set three, with the score knotted at 14, but this time it was the Nighthawks that pulled away with a 9-3 run of their own to put the frame out of reach and force a deciding fifth set.
Tied at five in the final set, NNU came through with five unanswered points to take a 10-5 lead that they would never relinquish.
Maren Dent had two kills in the run, while
Helen Sullivan added an ace. After a kill from
Sarah Lyons brought the Nighthawks to match point at 14-9, a Mavericks' attack error finalized the NNU victory.
Dent led the Nighthawks in kills with a career-best 17, hitting .245 and adding 10 digs.
Miya Koch and
Hailey Cheney also recorded double-digit kills with 10 apiece. The Nighthawks were balanced offensively, with three others notching at least six kills (Lyons at 8,
Abby Black with 7, and
Gabi Moore with 6).
Lyons led the team with a .389 attack percentage, only making one error with her career-high eight kills. Moore added a career-best 43 assists, an ace, and 11 digs.
Caroline McMahon led the Nighthawks with 23 digs and registered four aces, while Sullivan notched five aces to lead the team.
NNU had the service advantage, recording 10 aces to seven for Minnesota State while also committing just eight errors to the Mavericks' 13.
The Nighthawks will play two games tomorrow at the season-opening Otter Invitational, first against Westmont College at 10:00 a.m. PT followed by Dominican at 4:00 p.m. PT.
