Box Score KIRKLAND, Wash. - Northwest University defeated the Evergreen State College in straight sets, 3-0 (25-12, 29-27, 25-15) to improve to 6-3 in Cascade Conference play and 11-5 overall.
Amanda Waterman led Northwest U with 10 kills, hitting .333 for the match as the Eagles were .270 as a team. Morgan Pilon led NU in assists with 24 while teammate Leia Roy had a match high 14 digs.
Evergreen took an early 5-3 lead in the first set, but the Eagles found a rhythm and outscored the Geoducks16-4, to take a 19-9 lead aided by two Brooke Riddle service aces and an Amanda Waterman kill. Three straight NU kills would end the set in favor of the Eagles.
The early going found Evergreen rebounding from the opening set loss to break out to a 16-9 lead after a service ace by Kylie Kitan and kills by Natalie Taylor and Kesley Delagrange. But, Northwest U would come back strong to finally tie the set at 21-21. The teams would trade the lead until Northwest would finally break a 27-27 tie after an attack error by TESC and a Mattie Jo Johnson kill.
The long second set and the tough loss for the Geoducks may have been too much as Northwest U would lead 15-4 and on to take the third set and match capped off by Lara Linden's kill.
Natalie Taylor led Evergreen (2-13, 2-8 CCC) with 8 kills and Brooke Huffman tallied 11 digs for the Geoducks. Kylie Kytan led ESC with 22 assists. The NU defense would limit Evergreen to a .055 hitting percentage for the match.
Brooke Riddle led both teams with 7 service aces while the Northwest U team totaled 13 aces on the night."This match serves as a reminder of just how important the serve, serve-receive game is," said Steve Bain, Northwest U head coach. "When we were on our serves, it put pressure on their offense and made our defense much better. But, Evergreen turned the tables on us in the second set and our struggles were due to Evergreen's tough serving. It tested our resolve and it took some grit to grind our way out of the hole that we dug for ourselves and I was pleased with how we responded mentally to complete the come back."
Northwest U remains at home to host Walla Walla on Saturday night in another CCC match.
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