NAMPA, Idaho—Going extras in four of the five sets, Western Oregon University defeated Northwest Nazarene University, 3-2 (30-28, 25-27, 22-25, 26-24, 19-17) in a GNAC road match on Thursday. 
 
All three of Western Oregon's (6-14, 3-10 GNAC) individual set wins went beyond the normal total, including a resilient opener where the Wolves survived six set points by Northwest Nazarene (4-16, 4-9 GNAC) for a 30-28 win. 
 
The Nighthawks evened the match in the second and grabbed their first lead with a 25-22 win in the third. 
 
Tied 24-24 in the fourth, Jenna Compton used one of her her 14 kills to push the Wolves to set point where Leila Holt finished the job with an ace to set up the dramatic finale.
 
The fifth set featured nine ties while NNU generated a pair of match-point opportunity at 14-12 following an Abbey Blum kill.
 
Back-to-back terminations by Leila Holt and Sophie Hall swung the advantage to WOU's favor only for the home side to return with consecutive kills of their own for a 17-16 lead. 
 
Once again facing elimination, Hall tied the set up at 17-17 while Compton and Holt replicated their efforts from the fourth set with a kill and an ace to end the match.
 
The win snapped an eight-game slide for Western Oregon. 
 
Compton and Mariella Vandenkooy shared the team lead with 14 kills while Hall (13) and Sianna DeCarli (10) gave the Wolves four players in double figures. Sierra Stultz led the Wolves with 24 digs while Aubrey Stanton finished with 24 assists.
 
The Wolves continue its road trip with a Saturday match at Central Washington. Opening serve is set for 3 p.m. in Ellensburg.