1. NU Home
2. /
3. Athletics
4. /
5. Eagle Updates
6. /
7. Article

Athletics

Eagles Defeat Warner Pacific in Four Sets

PORTLAND, Ore. - The NU Eagles rallied from a first set loss to win the next three sets and come away with a 3-1 (23-25, 25-19, 25-18, 25-17) victory over Warner Pacific to gain a split on their road trip and earn their 11th win of the season. The Eagles improved to 5-4 in conference play.

The first set was close the entire way with 14 ties throughout the set. The turning point came late in the set with the final tie at 23-23. An Eagle error and a kill by Rylie Engelson would give the tight set to the Knights, 25-23.

NU would come back fast in the second set and break out to a 13-4 lead punctuated by an Olivia VanDlac kill following a WPC service error. Warner Pac would get to within four, 18-14, but NU would out score WPC 4-1, led by a kill by Breanna Covey and VanDlac plus a service ace by Anna Thostensen. Molly Boyle would end the set with a kill as the Eagles evened the match a one set a piece.

Set three was closely contested until the Eagles would break the final tie at 14-14 and take the lead for good on a Sarah Stoker kill, a WPC miscue and another service ace by Thostensen. Kills by VanDlac, Arika Zwack and Alivia Johnson would grow the NU lead to 21-16 as they would out score the Knights 4-2 to win the set.

In the final, deciding set and the score tied 8-8, Northwest would go on an 8-2 run capped off by a Sarah Stoker kill to lead 16-10. Another 4-0 run by NU including kills by Covey, VanDlac and two straight service aces by Anna Thostensen would make it, 20-11 as the Eagles would hold off the Knights the remainder of the way as they would post their 11th win of the season.

Olivia VanDlac led Northwest U. (11-7, 5-4 CCC) with her 17 kills and 16 digs. Arika Zwack and Breanna Covey each had 11 kills and 9 digs for the Eagles while Ashton Arbuthnot had a match high 46 assists. Senior Heather Shulke has a match high 23 digs and Sarah Stoker added 9 kills, hitting .350 for the match.

“The players demonstrated some resilience tonight,” commented Steven Bain, NU head coach. “We served and passed well and were able to side out at a high percentage, which was the story of the match.”

---

Posted on Saturday, September 29, 2012 Share on Facebook