Things are on the rise on NE 53rd Street in Kirkland.
The Northwest University (NU) volleyball program, which plays in the tiny NU Pavilion on the south side of the Houghton neighborhood in Kirkland, just keeps adding to the list of things that have happened for the first time in over a decade.
The Eagles (6-2 Cascade, 9-4) swept Southern Oregon University on Sept. 10, beating the Raiders for the first time since 2004.
The following week, the Eagles jumped into the NAIA top-25 as voted by coaches across the nation — that hadn’t happened since 2005.
Translation: the ideas of coach Steve Bain have caught on in a big way.
“We look at it simply as a return on investment kids have put in,” said Bain, who is entering his fifth year with the program. “There’s an extrinsic factor that recognizes the commitment to the process we have in place: as the saying goes, our record won’t buy us a cup of coffee when we play our next opponent.”
The two conference losses have both come to top-25 programs, Eastern Oregon and Corban, and the Eagles have been dominant in other performances.
Northwest swept College of Idaho and Northwest Christian, and won a five-set match over Oregon Tech in Klamath Falls — traditionally a tough place to win, as the Owls play at over 4,000 feet above sea level.
The win over SOU, while sweet, is more representative of progress than exceeding expectations.
“We talked about it, and it’s like we need to act like this has happened before,” Bain said. “You can’t get too high on the highs or too low on the lows. We have great respect for everyone that we play, and Southern Oregon — they’re a benchmark for excellence in this conference.”
The Eagles graduated only one player from last season’s squad, which lost in the semifinals of the conference tournament.
Juniors Amanda Waterman and Mattie Jo Johnson and senior Dakota Adams have led the way on offense so far, each averaging around two kills per set. Morgan Pilon is the starting setter, with Leia Roy as the libero.
But it wasn’t always so. Bain took the job in May of 2011 following an illustrious stint with Kings High School, and without much of a recruiting class of which to speak.
“We won a couple of state championships at Kings and had a lot of success there,” Bain said. “I think, in the first couple of seasons [at Northwest University], I lost more matches than in my entire career at Kings.”
Bain credited the current senior class with sticking through a rough stretch. Now, the Eagles have a culture about the locker room — one that helps new players get up to speed a little faster.
The juniors and seniors “took their lumps” early on, but they have laid the foundation for future successes.
“When I first came here, we established a standard we have to achieve if we want to compete for a championship,” Bain said. “Those first few years, we were nowhere close. Now, we’re very close to those standards.”
The Eagles play on most Friday and Saturday evenings with four home matches remaining in the regular-season schedule. Northwest is scheduled to play Southern Oregon at 7 p.m. on Oct. 7 and play Oregon Tech at 5 p.m. on Oct. 8.
The home schedule wraps up with matches against The Evergreen State College and Walla Walla University on Oct. 28 and 29, respectively.
The next NAIA coaches poll is due on Oct. 3.
