No. 11 Mounties Go Undefeated at Big Sky Invitational
BUTTE, Mont. – The No. 11 Eastern Oregon volleyball team went a perfect 4-0 at the Big Sky Invitational, capping off the tournament with two victories on Saturday.
The Mountaineers (6-3) earned their third-straight sweep (25-15, 25-19, 25-17) over Montana State-Northern in the morning match before gutting out a five-set win (25-23, 25-27, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11) over No. 10 Grand View.
The Blue and Gold were one of just two teams to go undefeated at the tournament as fellow CCC member College of Idaho also swept the competition over the weekend.
Match 1 – No. 11 EOU 3, Montana State-Northern 0 (25-22, 25-17, 25-14)
All-American outside hitter Amanda Miller found her swing against the Skylights, recording a season-high 16 kills with an impressive .600 hitting percentage.
The Mountaineer defense stifled the MSUN attack, holding the Skylights to just 25 kills and a .143 hitting percentage. The EOU offense doubled MSUN’s numbers, recording 53 kills while hitting .275 from the floor.
Freshman Madison Pilon posted a career-high 32 assists for the match. Senior Malia Mills led the team with 14 digs, followed by freshman Kiley McMurtrey with 13. McMurtrey was also dynamic from the service line with four aces.
Sophomore Megan Bunn added 11 kills to the EOU attack while senior Emily Nay posted nine kills with a .400 hitting percentage.
Match 2 – No. 11 EOU 3, No. 10 Grand View 2 (25-23, 25-27, 25-21, 23-25, 15-11)
The Mountaineers found themselves in a battle early against No. 10 Grand View, with momentum shifting from point to point in the match of ranked opponents. Three of the five sets were decided by just two points.
Neither team hit well from the floor as the front lines limited good opportunities all afternoon on both sides. EOU held a slight advantage, 14-11, in blocks while the Vikings finished with 36 errors for the match.
Senior Madisen Garlie set a career-high while at EOU with 11 block assists and 13 total blocks, leading the strong EOU defense for the match. She finished with a double-double, also posting 10 kills.
Adding to the stifling defense for EOU, McMurtrey set a career-high with 27 digs from the libero position. Mills added a strong match with 19 digs.
Miller one-upped herself from the previous match against MSUN, leading the team with 17 kills. Bunn posted 14 kills while Nay contributed with nine.
Both Pilon and Carpenter put up big numbers as setters, with Pilon posting 30 assists and Carpenter dishing out 23.
After a tough first tournament, EOU rebounded to wrap up its non-conference slate with a 6-3 record including wins over two ranked opponents in Montana Tech and Grand View.
The Mountaineers next begin Cascade Collegiate Conference action, visiting Southern Oregon on Sept. 1 followed by Oregon Tech on Sept. 2.
Live statistics and video links will be available for both matches at eousports.com.
For more information on Eastern Oregon volleyball, follow @EOUAthletics or visit eousports.com.
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Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu