Box Score KIRKLAND, Wash. – Northwest University and Oregon Tech battled back and forth tonight and it was OIT coming out on top in 5 sets, 3-2 (25-23, 23-25, 25-22, 19-25, 8-15) for the Cascade Conference win on the Eagles' senior night and the season's final home game at NU.

The first set would be tightly contested with neither team gaining the upper hand until Northwest would take charge after the set's final tie at 17-17. Five straight Eagle points would give NU the 22-17 lead as Sarah Stoker would have a pair of fills and Olivia VanDlac with a couple of service aces. OIT would pull to within one late in the set, 24-23 on a Kelsey Sampson Kill, but Rae Ann Haistings would come through with a kill to give NU the win.

The second set would go to the Owls as they would get off to a fast start and establish a 16-9 lead. NU would battle back to tie the set 23-all, but Kayleigh Whelchel's service ace and Mykala Rubey's kill would seal the deal for Tech.

Northwest would win another close set in No. 3. OIT would fight back to tie the set twice in the late going at 21-21 and 22-22, but two straight kills by NU's Rae Ann Haistings and an OIT attack error would give the set to the Eagles.

Set four would see 8 ties in the early going, but with the score tied at 15-all, the Owls would go on a 6-0 run to pull ahead 21-15 and Marlee Smith and a miscue by the Eagles would end the set at 25-19 in favor of the Techsters.

The final deciding set would be all Oregon Tech as they would lead 10-4 capped off by two Kelsey Sampson kills and they would outscore Northwest 5-4 the rest of the way as Marlee Smith would punctuate the set and match win with two kills.

Rae Ann Haistings led Northwest U. (7-17, 3-11 CCC) with 12 kills and 11 digs. Sarah Stoker, playing her final home game as a senior, had 11 kills and teammate Christina Gleb had a match high 39 assists. Freshman Leia Roy once again led the Eagles with a match high 28 digs.

Oregon Tech's (13-15, 6-8 CCC) Kelsey Sampson had a match high 22 kills while adding 24 digs to lead OIT in both categories and score the double-double. Marlee Smith had 17 kills and 22 digs for another double-double and Kayleigh Whelchel led the Owls with 28 assists. Victoria Porter also had a double-double with 27 assists and 13 digs for the night.

"Our players battled but we struggled with composure at pivotal moments and Oregon Tech did a nice job of capitalizing on our errors," said Steven Bain, NU Eagle head coach. "Still, we played extremely hard and if a young team like ours can take these experiences and learn from them they will become formative and they have the potential to make us better the next time we take the court."

Northwest finishes their season on the road as they travel to Salem and Eugene, Ore., next weekend and then to Olympia the following week for two matches to complete their season. Oregon Tech will be at the College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon next weekend.