KIRKLAND – Northwest put to rest a three-match slide with a hard-fought, three-set win over Walla Walla on Saturday.
 
The Eagles got back to a .500 winning percentage overall (13-13) and in the Cascade Collegiate Conference (9-9) with the 25-18, 25-12, 25-22 victory.
 
"Walla Walla has continued to improve and brought that improvement to tonight's match," said NU Head Coach Steven Bain. "Their effort forced us to play clean and our ladies responded with a strong effort of their own."
 
Abigail Broussard led the Eagles with 11 kills and a .526 attack percentage. Kaitlyn Mickle added nine kills and Delaney Sparks contributed seven. Morgan Harter led NU with 17 assists and Anna Saelens collected 10.
 
The Eagles served up a dozen aces, led by Reece Denney with six and Allie Flynn with four.
 
Kelsey Moore patrolled the NU back row for 16 digs with Harter getting 10. The Eagles had five blocks with Kylie Lunday being involved in three.
 
Gabrielle Browning and Sahara Browning led the Wolves with 10 kills each.
 
Down 3-1 in the first set, the Eagles erupted for a 12-1 run to build a 13-4 lead. Flynn later capped the set with an ace.
 
NU fell behind 7-3 in the second set before rolling off a 12-0 run that included four kills by Mickle and three aces by Flynn.
 
Walla Walla had a 20-18 lead in the third set before NU jolted the Wolves back to earth with a 6-1 run for a 24-21 lead. Broussard had two kills and a block assist in that strong.
 
Northwest wraps up the home portion of its schedule next weekend, entertaining Corban at 7 p.m. on Friday and Bushnell at 5 p.m. on Saturday.