The Eagles had 16 blocks tonight Eagles Pull Out Five Set Thriller Over Ottawa 11/30/2017 7:43:53 PM SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Northwest University Eagles ended their 2017 season and first appearance in the NAIA Women’s Volleyball National Championships with a thrilling five set victory over Ottawa (Kans.) last this afternoon in the Tyson Events Center (25-20, 24-26, 25-23, 16-25, 15-12). Trailing 12-11 in the fifth set, a time out called by NU coach, Steve Bain, would spur the Eagles on to tie the set 12-12 on a Mattie Jo Johnson kill and then take the lead for good with Amanda Waterman’s kill and assist by Brooke Riddle. Another Johnson kill and an attack error by the Braves would end the set and match in the Eagles favor. The first set was tightly contested with 13 ties. With the set knotted at 17-17, Northwest U would make their move outscoring the Braves from Ottawa, Kansas, 3-0 to take a 20-17 lead after a Sarah Warner kill and two attack errors by OU. NU would lead the remainder of the way with Hannah Lord and Mattie Jo Johnson ending the set with a pair of kills. Set two would be equally hard fought with several lead changes and 12 ties. With the score tied at 19-all, it would be Ottawa gaining the upper hand and momentum to lift them to the lead on a 4-0 run to move ahead, 23-19. But, one more push by the Eagles would tie the set at 24-24 highlighted by a big block by Amanda Waterman and a service ace by Alysanne Van Dyke. After an Ottawa timeout, the Braves would pull out the narrow set win with a kill and attack error by the Eagles to tie the match at 1-1. Northwest U would come back in the third set to take an early, 11-9 lead. They would stretch the lead to 18-14, but Ottawa would battle right back to tie the score at 18-18 and then take a brief lead at 19-18. NU would finally take control of the set, breaking a 23-23 tie with Amanda Waterman forcing two Brave attack errors to end the set and put the Eagles up 2-1. Ottawa would refuse to go away and would come back strong in the fourth set to break out to 13-6 lead capped off by a kill by Yuleika Jimenez. NU would come back to pull to within three, 17-14, but OU would regain the momentum and outscore the Eagles 8-2 to send the match into the fifth and final set. Northwest U (24-10) was led by Mattie Jo Johnson’s 15 kills and .242 hitting percentage. Keann White added 12 kills with Amanda Waterman and Audrey Saelens adding 10 kills each. Morgan Pilon and Brooke Riddle combined for 45 assists with Riddle totaling 25 and Pilon finishing with 20. Alysanne Van Dyke had a match high 35 digs with Pilon adding 13 and Riddle with 10 digs. The Eagles finished with 16 blocks. NU Coach Steve Bain after the match, "The match was hard fought on both sides of the net and I was impressed with Ottawa’s energy on defense. They were also aggressive at the service line, which kept us out of system especially in the fourth set. But, our ladies responded at pivotal moments and deserve credit for making the plays when the match was on the line. Such a blessing too, for our seniors to end their career with a win at Nationals. They have given so much to this program and I will always be grateful for their sacrifice and the ways in which they used their gifts to make their teammates better." Ottawa (30-13) was led by Kenna Hall’s 17 kills with teammate Yuleika Jimenez adding 16 kills. Setter Adriana Skipper had a match high 57 assists and 23 digs. Liz Hait led the Braves with 31 defensive digs.