Oregon Tech freshman Kara Young finished with a match-high 12 kills, including five in the Owls' opening set win. (photo by Kelly Caleb)
Oregon Tech Drops CCC Match to Eastern Oregon
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Oregon Tech took the opening set over Eastern Oregon University, but the Mountaineers would rally and take the next three to win tonight’s Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball match 3-1 (21-25, 25-14, 25-21, 25-16).
Oregon Tech falls to 0-5 in the conference standing and 7-10 overall. EOU improves their mark in the CCC to 4-2 and 10-4 on the season.
After Tech took an 8-5 lead, Eastern rallied for four straight points to take their first lead of the night, 8-9. Tied 12-12, a block from Aurora Penoyar and Jennifer Saltenberger, along with a Kara Young kill, followed by a Penoyar spike, gave the lead back to the Owls. Oregon Tech would move out to a 21-16 lead before EOU used a five point run to tie it up at 21-21. An Eastern hitting error gave the lead back to Tech for good, while a Julie Pfeifer ace capped Tech’s scoring to win the opener 25-21.
Behind a solid serving effort from EOU’s Rebecca Haight, the Mountaineers rolled to a 6-1 advantage to open set 2. Eastern would eventually double-up the Owls, 20-10, before dominating the set 25-14 to make it 1-1.
The teams went back-and-forth throughout the beginning of set 3 before Oregon Tech looked to take command with a 15-11lead. EOU, however tied it at 15-15, while taking their first lead of the set at 17-16. The Owls took advantage of back-to-back hitting errors to move up 20-18, but the Mountaineers closed out the set, after trailing by two, 21-19, with a six point run, winning 25-21.
Tied 8-8 in set 4, EOU strung together six in a row and would never trail again. Oregon Tech managed to pull within four points, 14-18, but EOU would earn the victory after scoring 7 of the next 9 points, 25-16.
Kara Young earned match-high honors with 12 kills with Aurora Penoyar tallying 11 in the loss for Tech. Marie Baumann recorded a match-high 30 digs with setter Kayleigh Whelchel finishing with a match-high 28 assists.
Casey Loper led the Mountaineer offense with 11 kills, followed by Taylor Stewart with 10. Jessica Perron and Karly Stack combined for 40 assists with Kaitlyn Duncan adding 28 digs and Rebecca Haight 11 to anchor the EOU defense.
Oregon Tech will look to get back on track when the Owls host Simpson University in non-conference volleyball action this Tuesday beginning at 6PM at Danny Miles Court.