Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
Miller leads Mountaineers over SOU in 3
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – Eastern Oregon outside hitter Amanda Miller stopped Southern Oregon time and again from getting over the hump Friday night in the Cascade Collegiate Conference opener for both teams at Mountain Avenue Gym.
Behind Miller's 16 kills on 28 attacks, the 11th-ranked Mountaineers started their title defense with a 25-23, 27-25, 25-17 win over the Raiders, their third in a row in Ashland. They improved to 7-3 overall, while SOU dropped to 2-3 going into Saturday's 5 p.m. match against No. 25 College of Idaho.
Miller put down six of those kills in a tight first set that was tied at 20-all after SOU hitter
Ariana Sattler's kill that capped a 5-1 spurt. EOU regained control by winning the next three points on Hailee Ackerman and Sarah Carpenter kills and a Kiley McMurtrey ace.
In the second, the Mountaineers fought off set point three time – at 24-22, when an SOU error and a Miller kill evened the score, then at 25-24, when Miller delivered another equalizer. Emily Nay's block and a Miller ace ended the set, and EOU never trailed in a tidy third frame.
For the match, EOU hit .297 with 12 blocks – led by Madisen Garlie's eight – and a sideout percentage of 68. The Raiders hit .193.
Redshirt-freshman middle
Makayla Hoyt's 11 kills on 19 tries and three assisted blocks led SOU.
Taylor Ristvedt went for 10 kills,
Elliott Cook had nine,
Ashlyn Flynn collected 21 digs, and
Hannah Bogatin and
Natalie James recorded 21 assists each.
Sarah Carpenter totaled 20 assists and Madison Pilon 19 in the Mountaineers' two-setter system. Holli Mullins picked up 12 digs, while Ackerman and Garlie had eight and seven blocks, respectively.
EOU, which is vying for its fourth straight CCC regular-season title, has dropped just three conference road matches since the start of 2015.