NAMPA, Idaho – Western Oregon fell to Northwest Nazarene 25-18, 25-23, 25-22 in the final regular-season match of the year on Saturday afternoon at the Johnson Sports Center.
 
The loss brought an end to a season where Western Oregon (10-17, 7-13 GNAC) saw a three-match overall improvement and two more league wins compared to the 2015 campaign.
 
Western Oregon struggled to find an offensive rhythm for most of the first set, and, despite a late rally, lost the opening set by seven points. Northwest Nazarene (20-7, 13-7 GNAC) led by as many as 10 points before the Wolves made a push. Keyed by kills from Amanda Short and two blocks from Maddie Mehciz, the Wolves closed within six before an error from the service line ended the first set. WOU had 10 kills and nine errors for a .026 hitting percentage.
 
NNU benefitted from two key runs in the second asset while staving off a long scoring rally from Western Oregon. The Crusaders took an early 7-3 lead before two kills from Mariella Vandenkooy and four NNU errors created a 6-0 run that pushed the Wolves ahead, 9-7. Seven of the next eight points went to the Crusaders, but a two Short kills produced a 4-0 run by WOU that knotted the set at 19-all. After Paige Orth and Mehciz combined on a block for a 22-21 lead, Northwest Nazarene took four of the final five points of the set to take a 2-0 lead in the match.
 
Vandenkooy was in top form in the third, recording five kills for the Wolves despite seeing NNU build an early 10-point lead in the set. WOU sliced the lead to five, 14-9, with two kills from Alisha Bettinson and a Sheila Limas De La Cruz ace. The Wolves would get as close as two, 23-21, during a small spurt with a Bettinson kill, a put down from Katherine Huntington and an Orth ace. But, the Crusaders stymied the late WOU rally and closed out the match with a kill from Madi Farrell for a 25-22 score.
 
Short led the Wolves with 11 kills, including four in the final set, and was one of two Western Oregon player with 10 or more kills. Vandenkooy registered 10 kills (.267 hitting) while Bettinson closed the match with nine. Huntington had all five of her kills in the third set. Christie Colasurdo was the only WOU player to record double-digit digs with 18.