IRVINE, CA- The Cougars finished play at the Golden Eagle Classic on Saturday morning with a matchup against Northwest Nazarene. CCU played consistently well as a team en route to a 3-1 victory to close the tournament with a 2-2 mark.
Suzanna Conner got the scoring started early with consecutive kills, and a four point run from the Cougars sent them ahead 10-5. A slew of attacker errors from NNU and a kill from
Megan McNitt saw CCU jump ahead 15-8, and four more in a row gave them set point at 24-14. McNitt finished the set with another kill for a 25-16 victory.
Abby Breeding led off strong in set two with a pair of kills, and
Renee Phillips later made it 8-5 with a kill.
Lilly Woods notched a kill and ace to give her team a 17-15 lead, and kills from Conner and Woods finished the set with a 25-20 set win.
The Nighthawks came out strong in the third set, taking an 11-8 lead early on.
Abby Newell and McNitt got going with a flurry of kills to take a 17-16 lead late in the set, but NNU responded with five straight at the end of the set to claim the 25-19 victory.
The fourth set featured huge runs from both teams, starting with a seven-point run from Northwest Nazarene to begin things. A kill by Phillips and a
Shelby Hernandez ace jumpstarted a five-point CCU run as they closed the gap. Conner picked up an ace and kill later in the set to give her team a 12-11 advantage, and a pivotal five-point run led by a pair of kills from Phillips sent CCU ahead 17-12. With the lead comfortably in hand, Mcnitt slammed one home and Breeding finished things off with a kill for the 25-21 victory for the four set win.
McNitt had a breakout game in her fourth collegiate competition, pacing the offense with an impressive 17 kills. Breeding and Phillips followed with nine apiece, while Woods was dominant at the net with nine blocks.
Izzy Jones was excellent, spreading the ball around for 47 assists, and Hernandez closed the game with 17 digs for her team.
The Cougars will come to Colorado for a few days before heading to Texas to take on Texas Women's University in Denton September 12 at 4 p.m. MST.
