Portland, Ore. | CC Perry Gymnasium was packed on Saturday evening for Warner Pacific University Volleyball Senior night as the Knights honored and celebrated their six seniors. The Knights hosted No. 4 Eastern Oregon and the 5-19, 4-16 CCC Knights shocked everyone in the gym as they were able to steal a set from the number 4 nationally ranked team, who has a stunning record of 28-2, 18-2 CCC.
 
 "We played our best of the season the last two nights against two very good teams and I'm happy with the way our girls fought this weekend", said Head Coach Nels Norquist.
 
After a quick first set that ended in a 10-25 defeat over the Knights, it was clear the squad wasn't going to end the season and Senior night going out like that. The girls rallied, gathered together and left everything they had on the court.
 
Set two started with an exchange of points from the Mounties and Knights, trading serves back and forth. The energy in the gym shifted in favor of the Knights, who began to inch into a lead over EOU. After two monstrous kills by Junior Grace Buchanan, the Knights had taken a 21-17 lead. Understanding the importance of the win, Coach Nels Norquist waved his arms up and down to get the crowd into it. The girls fed off the energy of the crowd, instigated by Norquist, and Senior Gennah Schoen sealed the 25-22 victory with a blast past the back line of the Mounties' defense. The Knights were even with a nationally ranked opponent.
 
Feeding off of the energy of the previous set, WPU came out hot with a couple of Service Aces from Freshman Rylee Sneath. Tensions rose on the EOU side of the court, as the Knights maintained a lead for the first half of the set, forcing EOU to take a timeout. After a couple of consecutive Mountie points, the Knights came back firing as Senior Lauren Jones rose up for a massive block against EOU's Jet Taylor. The Knights had tied the set at 25. Unfortunately for WPU, the Mountie serving was spectacular and they managed to get another kill by Taylor to take the one point lead and a service ace to seal the victory.
 
The fourth set started slow for the Knights, as EOU forced a quick WPU timeout after a 6-0 start. The Knights managed to cut the lead down to 4, thanks to Buchanan's hammer of a swing but they weren't able to complete the upset and the Mounties sealed the match with a 25-19 victory over Warner Pac.
 
"We played our best volleyball these past two games and I couldn't have asked for a better way to end my senior year!", said Senior Middle Blocker Lauren Jones following the match, "I'm so grateful for the opportunity to play alongside some of my best friends and end the season on a positive note" added Senior Outside Hitter Haley Yoder.
 
With it being Senior Night for WPU, the seniors sure left their all in that gym, managing to win a set against one of the best teams in the nation in their last time wearing grey and blue.  
 
Despite the hard-fought match by the Knights, the 2019 season came to a close and the team ends the season with a 5-19 record overall. Let the recruiting season begin.