BUTTE, Mont. – Northwest knocked off 10th-ranked Providence in four sets to open the season on Saturday, 25-22, 22-25, 25-17, 25-16.
 
The Eagles went 1-1 on the first day of the Big Sky Challenge, falling in the late game to No. 9 Viterbo, 3-2.
 
"The Big Sky Challenge is a terrific preseason tournament filled with quality opponents and we knew heading into day one that we would be challenged," said NU Head Coach Steven Bain. "The day didn't disappoint. Providence was a tough opening act, and we were impressed with the speed and versatility of their offense. At times we struggled in serve-receive, which put our hitters in tough swing situations but as the match wore on, we stabilized and were able to side out at a high percentage. We served tough too and that kept Providence out of system and allowed us to gain control of the third and fourth sets to close out the match.
 
Abi Broussard led the Eagles with 16 kills, Susana Bailey knocked down 12 and Delaney Sparks had a terrific debut with nine kills and three blocks in the NU win.
 
Kelsey Moore came up strong in the libero spot, getting 17 digs to go with three aces. Allie Flynn had 10 digs.
 
Anna Saelens and Morgan Harter had 18 assists apiece with Harter contributing two aces as well. Flynn had five assists.
 
Northwest took advantage of eight first-set attack errors, including two in the last three points after the Argos had rallied to tie the set at 22-22. Bailey had a kill to end the UP rally and the set ended with back-to-back Providence errors.
 
The Eagles saw a late rally fall short in the second set, coming back from down 24-19 before falling by three.
 
Tied 11-11 in the third set, NU got three kills by Denney and two by Broussard while taking a 22-15 lead and the Eagles rode on to a 25-17 win.
 
After trailing by three points early in the fourth period, NU fired off a 7-0 run to take a 14-8 lead, paced by two kills by Sparks.
 
Bailey finished off the match with a kill for the final 25-16 score.
 
Viterbo won a late-starting contest, 23-25, 25-19, 25-14, 26-28, 15-10.
 
Sparks led the Eagles with 11 kills and added four blocks in the nightcap. Broussard tacked on nine kills and five blocks. Moore had 18 digs and four aces. Anna Saelens contributed 18 assists and Harter added 14.
 
Down 12-9 in the opening set, NU went on a 4-0 run behind two kills by Broussard. The V-Hawks retook the lead, 19-18 but the Eagles responded again, getting a Moore ace and a Sparks kill in a 5-0 run. NU claimed the set on a service error.
 
The Eagles struggled with their attack in the second and third sets with .030 and -.071 percentages.
 
Northwest bounced back for the fourth set win after trailing by as many as five points. Down 24-23, the Eagles bounced back and won on successive kills by Kylie Lunday and Denney.
 
NU grabbed an early 3-0 lead on kills by Broussard, Denney, and Azariah Johnson in the fifth set but the V-Hawks seized control with a 6-1 run and never trailed again.
 
"Viterbo was solid as well and at the end of the long day, their servers and passers were a bit better than ours, which swung the match in their favor." Bain said. "On our side of the net, we were able to try several different line ups and the team responded well to the adjustments. That was especially the case in the fourth set when we bounced back to send the match into the fifth set, which ended on Saturday! Hopefully, the grit we displayed today will carry over to tomorrow when we face two more tough opponents."

The Eagles return to action in the Challenge on Saturday, taking on 0-2 Dickinson State at noon and 1-1 Rocky Mountain at 4 p.m., Pacific.