Eagles Begin Season with a Victory
KIRKLAND, Wash. – First year head coach Jessie Dietrich got her first collegiate coaching win as the Northwest University Eagles defeated a feisty Walla Walla University team, 3-2 (25-21, 23-25, 25-21, 17-25, 15-10), in a non-conference contest this afternoon in the Pavilion.
With NU leading 2-1, Walla Walla battled back to take the fourth game and momentum, 25-17, but with the score in the fifth game tied, 10-10, NU went on a 5-2 run to close out the game and match.
Lauren Holtz (Jr., Brier, Wash.) led Northwest (1-0) with 11 kills while teammate Kacie Simpson (Jr., Renton, Wash.) followed with 10 kills. Holtz added 15 defensive digs and teammate Elle Ottow (Soph., Monroe, Wash.) added 10 digs for the Eagles.
Natalie Wilkening led Walla Walla with 25 kills and 19 defensive digs and Torey Haddad had a game high 28 assists for the Wolves. Quijuana Oucharek added 18 digs for WWU.
“The match was a little rocky for the team but we fought hard when we needed to and pulled it out,” commented Coach Dietrich after the contest.
NU left Kirkland immediately after the match for Lewiston, Idaho, where they’ll take part in the Lewis-Clark State Invitational on Friday and Saturday, August 28 and 29, as they’ll play four games in two days before returning home. They start things off with a 10:00 a.m. match with tournament host, LCSC, on Friday, followed by a 2 p.m. match-up with the University of Great Falls (Mont.).