SPOKANE, Wash. – The Eastern Oregon University team extended its win streak to six matches after a four-set victory over Montana State-Northern at the Red Lion Cascade/Frontier Conference Challenge Saturday.
The Mountaineers (6-1) had their 15-set win streak snapped after dropping the opening set to MSU-Northern. But, EOU responded by winning the next three sets. After beginning last season with only one win in its first seven matches, Eastern begins this season losing only one of its first seven matches.
“I’m very proud of how we battled in that match,” EOU head coach Kaki Morehead said. “That was a tough one. Northern is a very good team, and they will win a lot of games this season. It was great to see our girls bounce back like they did.”
Three Mountaineers finished with double figure kills led by Stefani Sorensen’s 12. Casey Loper and Alisha Crane added 11 and 10 respectively. Karly Stack had a team-high 21 assists, while Jessica Perron chipped in 15 and Bobbi Sumpter had 10. Kaitlyn Duncan matched a match-high 27 digs, and Rebecca Haight had 11. Duncan and Haight also combined for five service aces. Irene Walters and Casey Loper combined for nine of Eastern’s 14 total blocks.
As a team, the Mountaineers had a hitting percentage of .145, while Northern was at .207. The Lights held a 56-51 kill advantage, 54-51 assist advantage, and 85-73 dig advantage. But, it was EOU that capitalized on MSU-Northern’s 22 attack errors.
The Lights controlled the first set, only giving up the lead once. The set was tied four times. Eastern had an early 3-1 lead, but MSUN slowly took the momentum, and built a 16-10 lead. EOU closed the gap to 16-14, but would come no closer, as Northern won the set, 25-18.
Set two was all Eastern Oregon. The set opened with a 2-2 tie until EOU began methodically pulling away. The Mountaineers built a 15-9 lead, and their largest lead was seven twice, before the final of 25-20.
The third set was back-and-forth with six ties and three lead changes. MSUN had an early 2-0 lead and then a 7-6 lead, while the Mountaineers’ largest lead was five at 15-10 and 18-13. The Lights closed the margin to 18-17, and tied the score at 21-21 and 22-22. Eastern closed the set on a 3-0 run.
Almost the same story occurred in the fourth set, as Northern built an early small lead, but Eastern was able to take control. EOU’s largest lead of 14-9 was surrendered as the Lights evened the set at 16. The Mountaineers responded with a 5-0 run, taking a 21-16 lead. But, MSUN answered with a 6-1 run tying the set again at 22. Eastern then scored three of the set’s final four points to clinch the match.
Joni Nagy finished with a match-high 16 kills to lead the Lights (4-4). Abby Nicholas and Kelsey Williams combined for 25 kills. Shayla Bly had a match-high 29 assists, and Nagy added 24 assists. Nagy completed the triple-double with a match-high 27 digs. Bly and Holly Cartwright chipped in 17 and 16 digs. Nicholas had a team-high five total blocks.
Eastern’s win sets up an intriguing meeting in the final match of the challenge against No. 21 Carroll. If the Saints defeat Northwest at 2 p.m., then EOU and Carroll’s 6 p.m. matchup would be the only two teams undefeated through the challenge.
The Cascade Conference picked up a pair of wins this morning with Eastern’s victory and Warner Pacific’s thrilling five-set triumph over Montana Western. As of this release, the Frontier Conference has won 11 of the 17 matches in volleyball against the CCC. Including men’s soccer, the Frontier Conference has won 14 total contests, while the Cascade Conference has won six.
Live stats for the Eastern Oregon and Carroll matchup can be found on EOUSports.com beginning at 6 p.m.