Ashland junior Mila Nikolic (16) leads the celebration after a point by the Grizzlies during Tuesday's win over North Eugene.

Cascade Christian had a successful senior recognition night Tuesday by finishing off a perfect 10-0 Far West League record with a 25-21, 25-13, 25-11 victory over St. Mary’s.

Senior Maddie Todd, who had a team-high eight kills, had been waiting for the opportunity to beat the Crusaders after dropping last year’s two matches between the crosstown rivals.

“We were so excited and so ready to play St. Mary’s after being defeated by them last year,” said Todd. “We just all really wanted to win and we wanted to remain undefeated in the league and we did that and we’re super proud.”

With their undefeated league record secured, the Challengers also pulled off a rare feat of not having dropped a single set in FWL play.

This accomplishment only shows the consistency that Cascade Christian has played with by winning 30 straight sets.

“It’s pretty awesome because it’s not one of those things that happens every year,” said Cascade Christian coach Rob Kleker. “You can’t slip up, you can’t have a night off and the kids have done a great job of kind of pursuing that goal.”

But the Challengers (20-4, 10-0 FWL) did look vulnerable in the first set after they found themselves down 16-8 with all the hype of such a big night playing into a slow start.

“We talked before the match about just getting the kids to calm down,” said Kleker. “We wanted to try to squash the emotion a little bit and it took a little longer than we would have liked to get on track.”

“We came out a little tense and then we loosened up,” added Todd. “We’re really good at pushing back and ahead of teams when we need to.”

After five unanswered points from the Challengers, Grace McCauley stepped up to tie the score at 18-all with savvy serving. The sophomore had two aces in that time before Julia Brehm ended the first set with one of her three kills.

“Since about the midway point of the season, she’s been lights out,” said Kleker about McCauley’s difference-making serving. “She’s going to do the things that you need at the service line to get you back into games and continue to put pressure on the opponent.”

Ada Bernard led the Crusaders (12-5, 8-2) in the first set with hard serves and spikes to take the lead. The sophomore believed that Noelle Thickett and her 16 assists set them up for success early against a lengthy Challengers defense.

“Part of Cascade is that they are huge at the net,” said Bernard, who had eight kills. “And (Thickett) was setting everyone up, making sure to get the ball out to all of our hitters and that helped us in the long run to put the ball away.”

St. Mary’s coach Katie Miller credited her team for striking early with strong serves and kills. Emma Johnston helped balance her team with seven kills and four digs.

“We just got them to skate back on their heels on serves and picked up on opportunities from that,” Miller said. “But they came back and did a good job getting adjusted.”

After the Challengers shook off their nerves, the Crusaders were hampered by errors and couldn’t create any momentum for the rest of the match.

“Definitely missing serves was part of our downfall,” Bernard said about the rest of the match. “When we did get on runs, it was because of our defense and everybody playing in the game, but when they got on runs it was because of their serves and how we received them.”

With St. Mary’s struggling, it was all Cascade Christian from there with both Claire Knips and Brehm fortifying the defense with two blocks each.

“Our defense is really affected by our blocking, which improved (throughout the match),” said Challengers setter Molly Griffin. “Because we had such good blockers, we had certain spots covered, which left us spots to hit right through their defense.”

Griffin, who finished with 11 assists, led the attack by spreading the ball amongst her teammates, especially in the third set by finding Knips for back-to-back kills.

“She’s the rock that keeps everything steady,” Kleker said about Griffin’s performance. “She did a great job of keeping them moving and getting us into the system and giving us balls that our hitters could go and attack.”

NORTH MEDFORD 3, ROSEBURG 2: North Medford senior Raegan Boice had 31 digs along with three assists and two aces to help lead the Black Tornado to a 26-28, 27-25, 25-13, 25-27, 15-11 victory in Southwest Conference play.

The Black Tornado (16-6, 8-3 SWC) also had valuable efforts from MacKenzee Running and Paije Carpenter. Running finished with 14 kills and 13 digs, while Carpenter had 13 kills and 12 digs. The pair also added three aces apiece.

SOUTH MEDFORD 3, WILLAMETTE 0: South Medford senior Brooke Johnston combined for five kills, nine digs and four aces to lead her team to a straight-sets win in the Panthers’ SWC finale.

Mayen Akpan collected 11 kills, two blocks and two aces for South Medford (13-11, 6-6 SWC), while Isabel Miracle had five kills and Heitiare Moala added three kills and two aces.

ASHLAND 3, NORTH EUGENE 2: At Ashland, seniors Tessa Hobein and Flannery Lundgren helped Ashland outlast North Eugene for a 25-19, 17-25, 25-17, 23-25, 15-8 triumph.

It was the second Midwestern League win for the Grizzlies (7-16, 2-9 MWL) in seven days after snapping a 22-match conference losing streak last Tuesday.

Hobein provided 16 assists, three kills and three blocks for Ashland, while Lundgren put up 16 kills, three blocks and two aces. Fellow senior Lainie Carter recorded 10 digs and six kills.

Kiera Kubiak had 16 assists and four aces, and Mila Nikolic finished with five kills and four aces against North Eugene (4-18, 1-10).

MAZAMA 3, EAGLE POINT 2: At Klamath Falls, Baylee Mullen paced Eagle Point with 14 kills, nine digs and three blocks but the Eagles came up short in nonleague play, 18-25, 25-20, 25-20, 22-25, 15-7.

Megan Carr contributed a career-high 12 blocks and Thianna Deng-Gomez had five for the Eagles (13-8), while Makynlee Schauffler added 32 assists, seven digs and two aces.