SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team's season came to an end in the quarterfinals of the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship, presented by J&L Enterprises. The Mountaineers were defeated by Biola University, 3-1 (24-26, 25-20, 13-25, 20-25) Friday evening at the Tyson Event Center.
Emily Nay led the way for the Mountaineers with 12 kills on 17 attacks.
Casey Loper followed with 11 kills and
Amanda Miller recorded 10 kills to round out the players with double-figures.
Rachelle Chamberlain dished out 42 assists, while
Jessalyn Smith collected 18 digs to lead the Mountaineers.
The Eagles wasted little time pulling away from the Mountaineers in the first set. Menlo raced out to an early, 10-4, lead after a kill by Amy Weststeyn. The kill forced the Mountaineers to call a time out. EOU battled right back and trimmed the lead down to three, 10-7, after an
Isabelle Statkus kill.
Biola extend their lead back to 16-10, before the Mountaineers bounced back. EOU battled back to tie the set at 17-17, after back-to-back kills by Miller. The remainder of the set stayed close as neither team took a lead larger than one point, until the Eagles took the set, 26-24.
The Mountaineers and Eagles stayed locked in a tight second set as the Eagles held a 9-8 lead. The Eagles grew the lead to as many as three points, 16-13, before the Mountaineers came back. EOU came back to tie the set, at 16-16, before taking a one point lead, 17-16, after a Statkus kill.
The Eagles would tie the game once more at 18-18, but the Mountaineers responded by scoring seven of the last nine points, to take set two, 25-20, and tying the match at 1-1.
Biola and EOU came out and looked to have a highly contested set, as after the first 10 points, it was tied at 5-5. Biola slowly started to extend their lead and the Eagles took advantage of the Mountaineers' miscues, taking a lead of 20-10. EOU had no answer and the Mountaineers dropped set three, 25-13.
The Eagles came out flying in the fourth set of the match, as they jumped out to an early, 8-3, lead over EOU. The Mountaineers would not go away easily as they battled back to trim the lead down to two, 9-7, after an ace by Miller. Biola flexed their muscles and pulled away from EOU, 20-14, after an ace by Ashton Arbuthnot. The Mountaineers tried to come back but could not get closer than four points, 24-20, before dropping the set, 25-20, and dropping the match 3-1.
Of the current Cascade Collegiate Conference schools, this ties for the best finish. College of Idaho was also eliminated in the Quarterfinals of the 2011 Volleyball National Championship.
The Mountaineers finish the season with a 30-6.