AZUSA, Calif. -- The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team was swept by No. 9 Concordia University-Irvine (Calif.), 3-0, at the APU Cougar Classic Friday.
The Mountaineers (0-3) battled with top 10 ranked team for much of the match. There were 17 ties and nine lead changes in the match.
Concordia-Irvine (2-1) rallied from five down late in the game to win, 25-23. The Mountaineers opened the second game strong, but CU-I turned things around and controlled the rest of the game to win, 25-17. The teams went back and forth in the third game, but Concordia pulled out a 25-23 decision.
Jessica Lea finished with a team-high nine kills and 19 assists to lead Eastern Oregon. Kaitlyn Duncan added 13 digs. EOU's final attack percentage was .184.
The Eagles' Alex Bozoian had a match-high 10 kills. Liz Younglove had 14 assists and Jenee Henderson added 10 assists. Maddy Ekis and Kara Vincitorio each had eight digs. Concordia-Irvine's final attack percentage was .263.
The Mountaineers dropped the second match of the day against No. 6 Azusa Pacific (2-0) in three games, 3-0. APU controlled the tempo of the match from the start.
The Cougars won the games 25-11, 25-16 and 25-18. Lea finished with a match-high 11 kills and she added 10 assists. Emily Sampson had 16 assists and Duncan chipped in 18 digs. EOU's final attack percentage was .073.
Azusa Pacific was led by Amy Alkazin's eight kills. Raechel Jones and Sophie Burns each finished with 17 and 13 assists. Robin Portela had a match-high 21 digs and Jones had 14 digs. The Cougars ended with a .355 attack percentage.
Eastern faces The Master's College at 10 a.m. and No.5 Biola University Saturday. Live updates will be available on EOUSports.com.