EOU Defeats Concordia 25-23 in the Fifth Set to Claim Road Win
BOX SCORE - Concordia vs. Eastern Oregon
PORTLAND, Ore.—After an epic fifth set that lasted the length of a regular set, Eastern Oregon eeked out a win against the Concordia volleyball team 3-2 (18-25, 25-21, 25-14, 18-25, 25-23) on Saturday.
Both teams had several chances to win the decisive fifth set, but the Mountaineers took it thanks to back-to-back kills from Alisha Crane and Taylor Stewart that broke a 23-23 tie late in the set. Stewart’s kill clinched the match for the Mountaineers on what was EOU’s seventh match point. The Cavaliers held four match points of their own, but the Mountaineers saved each one to put themselves in position for the win.
A kill from the Cavs’ Amanda Goringe gave Concordia its first match point at 14-13, but the Mountaineers responded with two straight points to grab their first match point at 15-14. A block from K.C. Loper and Taylor Stewart gave the Mountaineers the lead, though a kill from the Cavs’ Brianna Hogan quickly erased it.
Hogan’s kill squared the match at 15-15, and the teams followed with eight straight kills without recording an attacking error. A block from the Cavs’ Jackie Stein and Goringe broke that streak finally and gave Concordia its third match point at 20-19.
Crane saved the point with another kill though, then combined with teammate Kenzie Kaba for a block on the next point.Crane’s play put EOU up 21-20 and gave her team its fifth match point.
Concordia proved resilient, however, as Stein and Goringe combined for back-to-back kills that put the Cavs back up at 22-21.
Unfortunately for Concordia, the 22-21 lead would be its last of the match, as EOU took control late. The Cavs would fight off another match point at 23-22 thanks to Stein’s fifth kill of the set, but the Mountaineers would respond with the two crucial kills from Crane and Stewart.
EOU improved to 20-6 overall and 12-4 in the CCC with the win, while Concordia dropped to 15-9 overall and 12-5 in the CCC. The win also assures the Mountaineers of the tiebreaker against Concordia, meaning the Cavaliers would have to beat Warner Pacific next week and then hope Eastern Oregon would lose to both Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech to claim the No. 3 seed in the CCC Tournament. The Cavaliers do know that they will either be the No. 3 or No. 4 seed in the tournament, which assures them of hosting an Opening Round Match on Tuesday, Nov. 6.
Meanwhile, the Cavaliers got off to a good start Saturday, winning the first set behind a dominant individual performance from libero Kelsey Kai. The Mountaineers played a solid offensive set in the first—recording 12 kills against only three errors—but they could not put enough kills down thanks to the relentless play from Kai on the backline. Kai finished the set with 13 kills, nearly triple the 5.78 digs per set average she had going into the weekend.
On the flip side, the Cavaliers found plenty of offense in the first behind five kills from Stein and four kills, on only five attempts, from Melanie Miller.
The Cavs’ strong play on defense did not continue into the second set, however, as EOU hit .485 in the set thanks to recording 18 kills in only 33 attempts. Stefani Sorensen and Loper led the Mountaineers to the 25-21 set win in the second, as they totaled seven and five kills in the set, respectively.
Concordia came back to hold EOU to just .025 hitting in the third though, as they topped the Mountaineers 25-14 in the set to take a 2-1 set lead into the fourth.
Unfortunately for Concordia, EOU rode a hot start to an early 8-4 lead in the fourth and never gave up the advantage afterwards. Concordia did get within one at 17-16, but EOU responded with a 8-2 run to close out the set at 25-18.
Overall, Sorensen’s 21 kills edged out Stein’s 20 for the match-high, while three other EOU players got into double figures. Loper led the second wave with 16 kills, while Crane finished with 12 and Stewart finished with 11. Stewart also had 12 digs in the match, giving her a double-double.
Meanwhile, Concordia also had four players record double-figure kill totals. Behind Stein’s 20, Mariah Raudsepp finished with 14 kills, while Hogan and Miller finished with 12 and 10, respectively.
In addition, setters from both teams recorded double-doubles in the match, as Concordia’s Lindsay Mangan finished with 57 assists and 10 digs, while EOU’s Karly Stack recorded 33 assists and 14 digs. Mangan’s 57 assists against EOU tied the conference match high she set in the Cavs’ five-set win over Warner Pacific back on Sept. 14.
Finally, the teams also had several players go into double-digits in digs, led by Kai with a match-high 33. Two other Cavaliers besides Kai went into double-figures too, as Shantel Gritsch and Mangan finished with 15 and 10 digs, respectively.
On the flip side, four Mountaineers recorded double-digit digs, led by libero Kaitlyn Duncan with 26. Besides Duncan, Stack finished with 14 digs, while Stewart and Rebecca Haight finished with 12 and 10, respectively.
Next up, the Cavaliers conclude their regular season with a match at Warner Pacific on Friday, Nov. 2. EOU, meanwhile, hosts Oregon Tech on Friday as part of the Mountaineers’ final home stand against OIT and Southern Oregon. Both Concordia’s match against Warner Pacific and EOU’s match against OIT will begin at 7 p.m.