MSUN Edges Eagles in Five Sets 8/22/2015 2:18:26 PM LA GRANDE, Ore. – Northwest University battled back from a 2-1 set deficit to tie the match, but Montana State Northern would hold off the Eagles, 15-10 in the fifth set to earn the 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 17-25, 26-24, 10-15) victory at the Eastern Oregon Invitational this morning. Northwest U (1-1) would take the first set 25-19, but MSU Northern would come back to edge the Eagles 25-23 in a tightly contested second set. In the third set and the scored tied at 14-14, MSUN would go on a 7-1 run to take a commanding 21-15 lead as they would go on to defeat NU, 25-17. NU would take a 20-16 lead in the fourth set, but would have to hold on to edge MSUN 26-24 to force a fifth and deciding set. MSUN tied the set at 24-all on a Korrie Stephenson kill, but the Eagles’ Amanda Waterman would get one of her team high 15 kills and the Lights would commit an attack error to give NU the win. In the final set, MSUN would break a 4-4 tie to go on and outscore the Eagles 11-6 the rest of the way to earn the five set match victory. Cassie Krueger would get the final kill for MSUN for the set and match win. In addition to Waterman’s 15 kills and .256 hitting percentage, Northwest U was aided by Mattie Jo Johnson’s 11 kills while Dakota Adams added 10 for the Eagles. Leia Roy led the team with 24 defensive digs and Brooke Riddle had a team high 43 assists. 11 service errors hurt the Eagles as they hit .201 as a team. MSUN (1-2) was led by Cydney Auzenne and Cassie Krueger who both finished with 15 kills. Emily Russell had a match high 48 assists along with 19 digs while teammate Jacy Vining had a team high 20 digs. The Northern Lights had 10 service aces and only three service errors for the match. Northwest U will play a non-counting scrimmage with North Idaho this afternoon before departing for Kirkland. Next weekend, the Eagles travel to Lewiston, Idaho for the Lewis-Clark State Red Lion Invitational.