LEWISTON, Idaho - Trailing most of the third set, the Eagles battled back late in the set to defeat Montana Western, 26-24, in an exciting finish to sweep the Bulldogs, 3-0 (25-20, 25-12, 26-24).

Sydney Schlect led the way with 10 kills and 13 digs for Northwest U (3-2). Schlect got a big kill in the final set to tie the score at 24-24 and two straight attack errors by Western ended the set and match.

This marks the second straight win over UMW (1-5) as the Eagles dropped the Bulldogs last weekend at the Eastern Oregon Invitational in La Grande, Ore.

In addition to Schlect’s performance, Mattie Jo Johnson added 9 kills and Hannah Hanson contributed 8 kills for the Eagles. Morgan Pilon finished with 21 assists and Leia Roy added 11 digs for NU. Hanson led the Eagles with 5 blocks while Emmaline Stockton chipped in 10 digs.

Montana Western was led by Tessa Miller’s 9 kills, Callie Hanson’s 14 assists and Dylan Fowler’s 20 defensive digs.

"We had a great team defensive effort this morning," said Eagle head coach, Steve Bain. "Hannah Hanson led the effort at the net with 5 blocks and we had three players in double digits in digs. We have learned a lot this preseason and are looking forward to conference play."

Northwest U’s second match of the day, a scrimmage with North Idaho College at 12:00 p.m., has been canceled due to air quality conditions due to the smoke from the wild fires in Eastern Washington. Several athletes were bothered by the air quality including one starter for Northwest U.