Mountaineers Sweep Northwest U.
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Eastern Oregon won its third straight match as they swept Northwest University, 3-0 (25-22, 25-22, 25-19), tonight in Cascade Conference play. With the victory, EOU registered their 10th conference win of the season and maintains a hold on third place in the CCC.
Set one was close throughout as EOU broke out to an early 3-1 lead only to be tied 4-4 by NU. The set would see 13 ties and multiple lead changes as neither team could create distance from the other. With Northwest leading 20-19, Eastern Oregon would go on a 6-2 run to pull away for the victory.
In the second set and with EOU leading 11-9, Northwest U. would tie the set at 12-all on a kill by Anu Akamine and a service error by EOU. Eastern Oregon would then rattle off four straight points capped off by a Deboodt kill and attack error by NU to lead 15-9. Another Grace Deboodt kill would increase the Mountaineer lead to 22-16 later in the set, but Northwest would battle back and tie the set at 22-22 on an EOU attack error and four straight kills, three by Akamine. The Mounties would gather themselves after a timeout and would score the next three points for the set win punctuated by a kill by Jessica Lea.
The third set would see EOU break out to an early 12-6 lead and never trail. NU would battle back to within three points, 22-19 but three EOU kills, one by Haley McEnroe and two by Grace Deboodt would seal the three set victory for Eastern Oregon.
Eastern Oregon (12-7, 10-4 CCC) was led by Grace Deboodt’s 15 kills and 16 defensive digs. Jessica Lea had 14 assists and Kaitlin Duncan added 12 digs for the Mountaineers.
Northwest U. (7-15, 6-7 CCC) was led by Anu Akamine’s 10 kills. Lauren Holtz added 8 kills and 20 digs and teammate Lauryn Ernster had a game high 25 assists.
Northwest U.remains at home to host No. 8 College of Idaho Saturday night and Eastern Oregon travels south to Olympia to play the Evergreen State College. Both games are scheduled for 7 p.m.