ROHNERT PARK, Calif- The Northwest Nazarene volleyball team turned in the first true upset of the 2007 Seawolf Spike on Friday as they held off a hard charging No. 13 Chico State squad for a 3-2 win.
The Crusaders got up by two games with 30-24 and 30-26 wins. Trailing late in game three, Chico State found their stride down the stretch and edged NNU 31-29 before taking a 30-24 win in the fourth game to set up an all-or-nothing race to 15.
Despite the momentum being in Chico's court, the Crusaders proved they had enough left in the tank to pull away 15-6 in the fifth.
Chico State had a sizable advantage in kills (79-63), but they were done in by 38 hitting errors, more than twice what NNU had (17).
Leading the way for the Crusaders was Cammy Dranginis, who led a balanced attack with 16 kills. Allison James had 48 assists and Loni Evenson posted 18 digs to go along with her 14 kills.
Lindsay Macias led all players with 29 kills and Erica Brick recorded 66 assists in a losing effort for the Wildcats.
Chico State plays next at 4:30 against Western Oregon. NNU takes on Sonoma State at 7:00 pm.
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