Eagles Squeeze Out Victory Over Geoducks 10/7/2017 8:39:31 PM KIRKLAND, Wash. - The Evergreen State College pushed Northwest University all the way to five sets, but fell to the Eagles 3-2 (23-25, 25-19, 21-25, 26-24, 15-8), in an exciting Cascade Conference match tonight in the NU Pavilion. Evergreen wasted no time in establishing themselves tonight as they broke a 23-23 tie in the first to score the final two points of the set, punctuated by Bethanie Nelson’s kill, for the 26-24 win. NU rebounded in the second set as they broke open a close, 12-10 set with a 10-2 run to extend their lead to 21-12 and they would go on to win the set. Set three would see TESC take control and, leading 11-10, they would outscore the Eagles 8-3 for a 19-13 lead. Nelson would give the Geoducks a 24-20 lead with her kill and would win the set on a ball handling error by NU. The fourth set would be the tightest contested of the night as neither team would give in. It looked as though the Geoducks were on their way to a set victory leading 6-2, but Northwest U would battle back to tie the set and then lead 8-7 after kills by Hannah Lord and Audrey Saelens. From that point on, neither team would lead by more than a single point until three straight attack errors at the end would give the set to the Eagles. The fifth and final set would belong to the Eagles as they would take an 11-5 lead aided by solid serving by Brooke Riddle and two straight service aces to put NU into a 6-2 lead. A Hannah Lord kill would stretch the NU lead to 11-4 as NU would close out the set and match with kills by Keann White and Sarah Warner. Sarah Warner led Northwest U (14-5, 8-3) with a match high 18 kills and 14 digs. Morgan Pilon had 29 assists and 16 digs and Alysanne Van Dyke had a match high 32 digs along with 4 service aces for the Eagles. NU hit .213 for the match. The Evergreen State College (6-12, 3-8 CCC) was led by Natalie Taylor's 17 kills and 16 digs. Matalasi Laban led the Geoducks with a match high 50 assists and teammate Tori Wegdahl had a team high 27 digs. “I felt both teams played extremely hard tonight, physically and emotionally, in a match that have either way. From a coach’s perspective, it was also fun to be a part of a match when two teams are battling at a high level. I was especially pleased with the grit our ladies displayed in the fourth set when they had their backs against the wall. Overall, a great competitive experience that will make us better as we enter the second half of the season.