KIRKLAND – Northwest is headed to the postseason.
 
The Eagles captured the No. 5 seed and will play Tuesday at Bushnell after securing their spot with a 3-0 win over the College of Idaho on Saturday.
 
Northwest's hopes came down to the last match of the regular season, but that was the extent of the drama as the Eagles won 25-16, 25-19, and 25-23.
 
"College of Idaho has a quality tradition, so we knew going into this match that it would take a terrific effort to advance," said NU Head Coach Steven Bain. "We knew as well that we would have to put pressure on them from the service line, and we did just enough to force their pin hitters into some tough swings. Those points were the difference in the match, and our ladies are excited to have qualified for the playoffs and look forward to competing against a very good Bushnell team."
 
The NU defense came to play, measuring six blocks and holding the Yotes to a negative .055 attack percentage for the night.
 
Northwest came out quickly, scoring the first three points of the opening set and getting out to a 13-6 lead. CI scrapped their way back to within 14-9, but NU got the side out and went on a 9-0 run with four different Eagles getting kills. 
 
The Yotes rallied to within 23-16, but a kill by Susanna Bailey and a block by Azaria Johnson and Kalei Kepler ended the suspense.
 
NU trailed 12-9 in the second set before flexing for an 11-3 run to take a 20-15 lead. Bailey had three kills in that spree. Megan Horne put the set away with a kill.
 
Northwest enjoyed a 20-16 lead in the third set before CI rallied and took a 22-20 lead. Still down 23-21, Northwest arrested any CI salvaging with a match-ending 4-0 run with Horne getting back-to-back kills to punch the Eagles' ticket.
 
Bailey led the Eagles with 11 kills with Horne adding eight. Anna Saelens had 29 assists to put her at 996 for the season. She will get a shot to become just the third Eagle and the first since 2005 to reach 1000 assists in a season. Reece Denney had two aces.
 
Defensively, Johnson led the charge with four block assists with Kepler adding three. Horne led with 18 digs, while Cristina Lorenz posted 16 and Savannah Hale 11.
 
The Eagles enter the postseason at 13-14 overall but ended conference play with a 12-10 record. NU plays Bushnell in Eugene at 7 p.m. on Tuesday in the quarterfinals. The semifinals are set for Nov. 12, and the finals are at 3 p.m. on Saturday, Nov. 13.
 
Before Saturday's match, the Eagles honored seniors Lorenz, Vanessa Franke, Saelens, Broussard, Jill Botsford, and Horne.