No. 17 C of I Defeats NU in Four Sets
Four Yotes combined for 43 of their 64 kills as No. 17 College of Idaho defeated the NU Eagles in four sets, 3-1 (25-17, 21-25, 25-19, 25-22) tonight in the NU Pavilion and a Cascade Conference contest.
The first set found the Eagles and C of I tied 8-8, but the Coyotes would out score NU 7-1 to take a 15-9 lead with Sarah Harris accounting for five points on five kills. C of I would hold on to their lead and win the set, 25-17.
The Eagles (9-6, 4-4 CCC) came back in the second set and battled with the No. 17 Yotes (10-4, 7-1 CCC). NU fell behind early, 7-5, but would come back to take the lead 14-9 capped off by Anu Akamine's kill. C of I would fight back and tie the set at 15-all on three straight errors by NU, and take a 16-15 lead on a NU attack error. But the Eagle would regain the lead 19-16 on four straight miscues by C of I. NU's Molly Boyle would seal the set win for Northwest with her kill.
Set three would go back and forth early three ties, but College of Idaho would take the lead for good at 12-11 as they would out score the Eagles 8-1 to take a commanding 20-12 lead. C of I's Madison Curtis would put the set away with two straight kills.
In the fourth and deciding set, C of I would jump out to an early, 9-3 lead, but NU would battle back to tie the set at 11-11. But, the Yotes would answer and outscore the Eagles 6 to 1 to lead 17-12 punctuated by a Sarah Harris kill. NU would make it close, pulling to within two points, 23-21, but a service ace my Melanie Stieg, service error by NU and two kills by C of I would seal the deal and give the Yotes their tenth win of the season.
Anu Akamine led Northwest U. with 10 kills and 13 digs while teammate Lauren Ernster led the team with 23 assists and added 11 digs. Lauren Holtz contributed 8 kills and 19 digs for the Eagles.
C of I’s Lauren Bourgeau (11), Sarah Harris (12), and Ciciley Fox (20) combined for the 43 kills. Madie Machurek had a match high 31 assists and Whitney Owen led the Yotes and the match with 22 digs.
Northwest U. will remain home to host Eastern Oregon University on Saturday night in a key CCC match-up while the College of Idaho travels to Olympia to take on the Evergreen State College. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.