WALLA WALLA – Northwest broke out of its four-match slide with a 3-0 win on Sunday at Walla Walla, 25-21, 25-23, 25-15.
 
The Eagles racked up 48 kills in the match, led by Keann White with 12, Sarah Howlett with 11, and Hannah Lord with nine. Courteney Carr had four of the team's six aces and led the team with 23 assists. Anna Saelens added 16 assists.
 
On the defense, Abi Broussard was in on six blocks, including two solo efforts. Cristina Hegarty led with eight digs.
 
"Walla Walla continues to improve and when you combine that with their effort, they gave us all we could handle at the end of a long road trip," remarked NU Head Coach Steven Bain. "Fortunately, we were good in serve-receive today, which allowed us to side out at a high percentage. The turning point in set three was our ability to serve our identity and force them out of their system. We learned a lot about this team over the last three games and hopefully, the lessons learned will serve us well in the weeks ahead."
 
The first set was largely back and forth, with WWU having a lead as late as 10-9. Tatiana Ensz, Lord, and Howlett all had kills in a 4-0 NU run, and the Eagles led the rest of the way. Broussard finished off the set with a kill after a set by Hannah Michaels.
 
WWU led 13-9 in the second set, but Northwest relentlessly chipped away and used a 4-1 run to grab a 23-20 lead. Broussard got a solo block to prevent extra rallies, ending the set at 25-23.
 
NU scored the first five points of the final set and had an 11-3 lead after another 5-0 run. The Eagles got the match win and their largest lead of the set by scoring the final two points.
 
The win puts the Eagles at 5-8 on the season and 3-4 in the Cascade Collegiate Conference. Walla Walla makes the return trip to take on the Eagles Thursday at 7 p.m. in the Kristi Brodin Pavilion.