EOU Volleyball Team Falls to Two of the NAIA's Best
Isaac Williams
AZUSA, Calif. - Nobody can accuse the Mountaineer volleyball team of having a soft schedule. One day after squaring off against fourth-ranked Biola University, Eastern hit the court against No. 5 Azusa Pacific on its home floor before playing second-ranked California Baptist to finish up its first road trip of the 2008 season.
The Mounties lost in three games to Azusa (25-13, 25-16, 25-16) in their first match of the day. In that game, sophomore Haley McEnroe led the Eastern offense with eight kills and a .368 hitting percentage. Sareena Simpson tallied eight digs while freshman Jessica Lea totaled 11 assists.
"We played point for point with them (Azusa Pacific) in the first half of each of the three games before our mistakes led to big runs by Azuza," said head coach Kaki McLean, who admitted being "frustrated" at times. She went on to say, "The experience we gained in playing three of the top six teams in the nation this early will be priceless down the road."
The second and final match of the day for the Mounties came against California Baptist; it was also a struggle as EOU fell in three straight (25-19, 25-16, 25-16).
Against the second-ranked ranked Lancers, Eastern fell behind early and could not close the gap that was created. CBU finished with a .354 attack percentage while the Mountaineers could only connect on 20 percent of their attempts.
EOU will scrimmage Blue Mountain Community College in La Grande on Wednesday before hitting the road again for the Lewis and Clark Tournament in Portland Agu. 29-30.