With the win, EOU improved to 8-6 overall and 7-0 in CCC play while Concordia fell to 9-4 and 4-2 in league action. EOU will remain in Portland to play Warner Pacific (1-6, 0-6 CCC) on Saturday while Concordia will play the conference’s only other unbeaten team by hosting The College of Idaho (10-1, 7-0 CCC). Both matches are slated for a 7 p.m. start.  

 

After generating a three-point lead in the opener, C of I was able to extend the gap to seven points with a 6-1 run highlighted by a pair of kills from Taylor Stewart. The Cavs responded with a 7-2 run of their own to creep back within two points and would eventually square the set at 22-22 on an Aria Nojima kill.

 

The squads would alternate points for ties on six more occasions to extend the set. Concordia earned the first two chances at asset point only to see the Mounties benefit from a pair of CU service errors. EOU was unable to capitalize on their first two set points however as an attack error and a Cavalier kill by Leslie Hanks thwarted the attempts. EOU wouldn’t be denied on their third opportunity as Rebecca Haight notched consecutive finishes to end the thrilling first set 30-28.

 

Duplicating the opener’s excitement, the second set featured eight ties, the final with the scoreboard showing 21-all before EOU went on to take the 2-0 lead. Concordia managed to secure a brief lead with the score 20-19 following a Lindsay Mangan kill, but the Mountaineers grabbed six of the last seven points for the 25-21 win.

 

In a change of pace, EOU tried their best to eliminate any drama in the third set by staking a 15-3 lead out of the gate. Haight nearly single-handedly brought down the Cavs with a third of those initial points for EOU. Stewart and Katie Showers each had two early kills to help the Mounties to the scorching start.

 

Making a final push, the Cavs outscored EOU 13-10 down the stretch with Thiel accounting for three of the team’s seven kills as the team hit a match-low -0.29.

 

EOU outhit the Cavs .277 to .148 overall including a match-high .354 in the first set. Haight led all players with 18 kills and was followed by 11 from Showers. Thiel was the lone Cavalier in double digits with 10 kills on 29 attacks while being credited with just two errors.

 

Emily Sampson and Jessica Lea combined for 40 assists to guide the EOU attack while CU’s Lindsay Mangan finished with a match-high 30 assists. EOU registered 51 digs to 42 for the Cavs with Haight and Kaitlyn Duncan each ending with an even dozen. Aubrie Concannon claimed 15 digs to represent the match-high.