DILLON, Mont. – Abi Broussard and Keann White had big nights Wednesday as Northwest opened volleyball season with a 3-1 win (23-25, 25-18, 25-18, 25-19) at Montana Western.
 
Broussard and White combined for 18 kills, seven aces, and seven block assists for the night.
 
NU had a 20-15 lead in the opening set, but the home team scored the next five to tie the match and kept momentum after a long rally ended in a Northwest attack error for a 22-21 lead.
 
"Both teams had the first match jitters early and Montana Western was able to exploit our serve-receive to come back and win the first set," said Head Coach Steven Bain. "We made several adjustments though after the first set loss and once we stabilized, our ladies stayed on task and regained their composure. Overall, we were pleased with the effort and look forward to playing another quality opponent tomorrow."

Western had an early 4-2 lead in the second set, but Hannah Lord and Broussard recorded kills to spark a 5-1 run for a 7-5 NU lead.
 
The Eagles all but iced the set with a 6-1 run, including two kills by Broussard and one by White for a 23-14 lead. Northwest collected match point on a service error.
 
NU blew open a 12-10 third set with a 7-2 spree that included two Tatiana Ensz kills and a shared block by Broussard and White. The Bulldogs closed to within 20-17 before the Eagles slammed the door with a 5-1 run capped by a Hannah Michaels ace.
 
Northwest employed a pair of 4-0 runs to establish control in the final set. The first run featured kills by Ensz and White, an ace by Courteney Carr, and a block by Kylie Szczepanski and White for an 8-3 lead. The latter came mostly on Western errors, with an Ensz ace putting NU firmly on top, 15-7. Carr got the match-sealing kill with an assist from White.
 
Broussard spearheaded a strong, three-pronged attack with 10 kills in 24 swings, while Lord added nine, and White contributed eight. Carr collected 29 assists.
 
Broussard launched four aces, and White added three for the Eagles.
 
Defensively, Cristina Hegarty led the way with 19 digs, and Michaels added 15. The Eagles had seven blocks on the evening, with Broussard getting in on four and White three.
 
Northwest moves along to Butte, Montana, for a 4 p.m. (Pacific) match with Montana Tech Thursday.