SEASIDE, Calif. – Northwest Nazarene volleyball made it two wins in a row to start the 2023 campaign on Friday morning with a 3-1 victory over Westmont at the Otter Invitational.
NNU led for most of the first set, but could not pull away Westmont before the Warriors rallied to take a 23-21 lead. The Nighthawks bounced back in a big way, though, rattling off four-straight points to take the set.
Abby Black started the run with a kill, and after a Warrior error
Maren Dent punctuated the set victory with back-to-back kills.
Set two would go the Warriors way, though, as a 7-0 run midway through the frame was too much for the Nighthawks to overcome as they fell 25-18 to even the score at 1-1.
Set three looked to be going to the Warriors as well, but another late rally for the Nighthawks flipped the script and gave NNU a 2-1 advantage. Trailing 24-21 at set point, NNU scored five points in a row to steal the frame.
Hailey Cheney had two kills in the run, while
Londyn Giles added a kill and capped the set with an ace.
NNU rode that momentum into the fourth set, taking the first six points including two
Caroline McMahon aces. Westmont made it close and took a 20-19 lead, but the Nighthawks scored six of the final seven points to earn the match victory.
Miya Koch was the only Nighthawks player with double-digit kills at 11 while adding four blocks. Cheney was right behind with nine kills, hitting .318 from the middle.
Gabi Moore contributed 39 assists and three aces, while McMahon led the team with 20 kills. Giles added three aces to go along with eight kills.
The Nighthawks have another match tonight in Seaside, taking on Dominican at 4:00 p.m. Pacific.
