Eastern Oregon celebrates after grabbing the third place spot.
LA GRANDE, Ore. – The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team was able to clinch the third place spot in the Cascade Collegiate Conference standings after beating Concordia in four games Saturday, 27-29, 25-17, 25-16, 25-22.
The Mountaineers were led by Grace Deboodt with 11 kills, two assists, and 10 digs. Chelsea Herron had 28 assists and 10 digs, Jessica Lea added 13 kills and 30 assists, and Ashleigh Dailey finished with 17 kills.
Concordia was led by Raluca Dinca’s 16 kills and six digs. Skyler Kamaka had 41 assists, and Kim Lindow ended the match with 17 digs.
Eastern and the Cavaliers went back-and-forth in the first set until Concordia took a 24-21 lead and had set point. The Mountaineers rallied to tie the score at 24, then take a 25-24 lead, but fell 29-27. The first game battle was a microcosm of the night and how well matched the pair of teams are.
Concordia defeated Eastern Oregon on Sept. 18 in five sets in Portland. The Mountaineers needed to defeat CU Saturday to take the third spot in the four-team conference playoffs beginning next weekend.
Eastern Oregon and Concordia tied for third place with 13-5 CCC marks, but the Mountaineers won the tiebreaker for the No. 3 seed by virtue of winning more sets (5-4) in its two matches with the Cavaliers.
The No. 3 seed, EOU, will open the CCC tournament in Caldwell, Idaho against second seeded, Southern Oregon, at 4 pm. Top seed and host, The College of Idaho and No. 4 seed Concordia play at 7 p.m. Friday. The winners will meet Saturday at 3 p.m. to determine the league’s automatic berth to the NAIA National Tournament.