MONMOUTH, Ore.—The Saint Martin's volleyball team earned their first conference win of the season on Thursday with a 3-2 (25-14, 17-25, 21-25, 25-15, 15-13) win over the Western Oregon Wolves at NPE Gym.

Saint Martin's (3-14, 1-10 GNAC) jumped out to a hot start with a convincing 25-14 win in game one. Ililani Kamaka led the attack with five kills while Rachel Gondrezick powered down two aces in the set. Western Oregon (5-13, 2-9 GNAC) had just five team kills in the first game and a .038 hit percentage.

The Wolves then responded with wins in consecutive games to take a 2-1 advantage to the fourth set. Through three sets, Jenna Compton and Sophie Hall each had six blocks and seven kills. They would both finish with seven blocks; a career-high for each.

The match peaked for WOU with a .429 hit percentage in the third game along with 16 kills. The Wolves combined for 29 kills in games two and three and just 18 kills the remaining three games.

"Our middles did a great job," said Western Oregon head coach Tommy Gott. "Working, transitiong, getting up and establishing themselves was solid tonight. The more we ran them, the more it opened things up for the rest of our hitters."

Saint Martin's fired back with a win in game four to force a fifth set. It was just the second time this season, and the first time at home, that Western Oregon has gone to a fifth set. The last time it happened was Aug. 23 against Colorado Christian.

"The biggest thing was us being able to carry over our energy," added Gott. "When we had momentum we hurt ourselves by coming out flat when we could have shut the door. When we have the opportunity, we have to stay hungry and have the ability to finish. There's nothing else to it, that's on us."

Opening the fifth set, Saint Martin's got out to a hot start, putting together  a 5-1 lead to force a quick Western timeout. Trailing later 12-9, the Wolves rattled off four straight points to take a 13-12 advantage and come within two points of the victory. SMU responded with three straight points, however, to seal the win.

"Once we realize we're down, our urgency really kicks in. We want that aggressive nature out of ourselves every single time. We don't want to have to play urgently just when it's necessary."

Compton finished with 12 kills, seven blocks and three digs. The 12 kills matches her season-high.

The win snaps an 11-game losing streak for the Saints and gives them their first conference win of the season. It is the first time they have beat the Wolves since 2015.

The Wolves will close out the week's slate at home against Seattle Pacific on Saturday. Opening serve is set for 4 p.m. inside New P.E. Gymnasium.