Raluca Dinca had 18 kills for the Cavs, including four in the fifth game, to help CU defeat EOU on Friday.
Concordia Rallies Twice to Defeat Eastern Oregon
PORTLAND, Ore.— After already coming back from a 2-1 deficit, Concordia rallied to force a fifth game only to need a second rally after falling behind 9-2 in the decisive game, eventually defeating Eastern Oregon 3-2 (27-25, 16-25, 20-25, 25-21, 17-15) in Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball action on Friday.
With the win, Concordia improved to 6-5 on the season with a 3-1 mark in CCC action. EOU dropped to 5-5 overall and 3-2 in league action.
Opening game took an early lead only to see the visiting Mountaineers march back to a 23-23 tie and immediately take the lead with a Grace Deboodt (Prineville, Ore.) kill. An EOU service error followed by a Mariana Toscano (Portland, Ore.) kill allowed the Cavaliers to reestablish the lead. Toscano would finish the game with two more kills, giving her six in the game, to give CU the 27-25 win.
The Mountaineers would square the match in the next game by holding CU to a -0.69 hitting percentage. Deboodt and teammate Jessica Lea (Prineville, Ore.) each had five kills as EOU handled the home team 25-16.
The Mountaineers continued their momentum in the third by holding the lead throughout en route to a 25-20 victory, but the Cavs would force a fifth by rattling off the last seven points after being behind 21-18, earning the 25-21 win.
Any steam the Cavs gathered from the fourth-game win would soon evaporate as EOU rolled to a 9-2 lead with the aid of five attacking errors from the CU side.
Clair Thiel (Oak Harbor, Wash.) would break the string for CU with a kill after an assist from Skyler Kamaka (Kaneohe, Hawaii). With Katie Lydon (Beaverton, Ore.) serving, the Cavs would grab two more points to cut the lead to 9-5, but a Concordia error and pair of points from Deboodt brought CU nearer to the edge of elimination with the score 12-5.
Five straight points brought CU back into the mix, but the gap would once again widen as a Haley McEnroe (Baker City, Ore.) gave the Mountaineers a chance at match point with 14-11 showing on the scoreboard.
Two Raluca Dinca Kills (Portland, Ore.) wasted EOU opportunities to clinch the match, allowing CU to tie the fifth game at 14-14 where Julie Butterfield (Joseph, Ore.) generated a kill to give EOU another shot at match point.
Dinca once again came through for the Cavs with a blast off of a Kamaka assist. In the next series, McKenzie Rath (Selah, Wash.) and Erika Doremus (Port Orchard, Wash.) landed a key block to give Concordia its first lead of the game and its first shot at match point where an EOU attacking error granted the CU win in the two-plus hour match.
“Our kids came through when their backs were completely against the wall,” CU head coach Melanie Hambelton said. “Skyler worked extremely hard out there and Mariana and Raluca were pounding the ball for us. We had people step up all over the floor as we got key digs from a number of players.”
EOU outhit CU .203 to .135 in the match but saw its hitting percentage drop in all five games after leading off with a .382 attack rate. The Cavs compiled 71 digs compared to 57 for the Mountaineers. EOU was repeatedly stymied by service errors, missing on 15 occasions while connecting on just three aces.
“We have been focusing on defense in practice lately and showed tonight,” Hambelton said. “Strong defense comes from a strong mentality and we need to continue is a in that development. I think we can play better than we did tonight by reducing those errors and work towards a more consistent game.”
Toscano led the floor with 19 kills for a .283 attacking percentage. Dinca added 18 kills on 44 chances for a .250 success rate. Kamaka collected 45 assists and Kim Lindow (Gresham, Ore.) had 14 digs to lead the Cavs.
A trio of Mountaineers tallied at least 10 kills with Lea leading the way with 15 terminations. Deboodt added 13 while McEnroe reached 10 kills. Lea also added a team-high 30 assists with Chelsea Herron (Union, Ore.) supplementing the setting with 19 assists. Deboodt and Kathy Duncan (Prineville, Ore.) each had 14 digs to tie for the team lead.
Concordia returns to action on Saturday by hosting No. 8-ranked The College of Idaho. Tip is set for 7 p.m. in the Cavalier Gymnasium. EOU will stay in Portland to face Warner Pacific on Saturday.