Wolves Fall to #12 Mountaineers
College Place, Wash. – The Lady Wolves hosted conference rival Eastern Oregon University tonight. It was a hard-fought match, but the #12 ranked Mountaineers proved to be too much as they beat Walla Walla in straight sets.
The Numbers
- Lauren Barlow's 7 kills and 15 digs led the Wolves
- Megan Bunn of Eastern Oregon had 9 kills to lead all players
- Madison Garlie had a combined 9 blocks for the Mountaineers
How it Happened
The Lady Wolves scored the opening point of the match with a Morgan Doyle kill up the middle. Eastern Oregon recovered quickly from a 2-0 deficit with a 6-0 run of their own powered behind the serving prowess of Madison Pilon. The highly charged match saw the momentum swing back in favor of the Wolves as they brought the score back within in one after a double block by Jenn Bosler and Morgan Doyle. Eastern Oregon answered with a 7-2 run that featured several long rallies that the Wolves were not able to convert into points. The Mountaineers worked their way to a big lead over Walla Walla, and a block by Madison Garlie ended the first set 25-10 in favor of Eastern Oregon.
A kill by Madisen Garlie put the Mountaineers up 3-1 early in the second set. The Wolves mounted a comeback attempted and back-to-back kills by Erika Dudar and Sarah Halversen tied the match up at 4-4. The Wolves didn't stop there, capturing the momentum and going up 8-5 after another kill in the middle by Halversen. Eastern Oregon did not rest on their laurels and chipped away at the Wolves lead with their relentless attack and several big blocks at the net, taking over the lead 12-11 from Walla Walla. Moments later, Lauren Barlow tied the match back up at 13-13 with a kill on the left side. Eastern showed why they are #12 in the country, going up 19-13 including several long rallies that the Mountaineers capitalized on. Up 24-17, Eastern's Isabelle Statkus put a ball in the back right corner to end the set and put the Mountaineers up 2-0.
Lauren Bosler opened the third set with an ace put Walla Walla in the lead. Eastern answered with back-to-back kills. The Mountaineers had their front line dialed in and built up an 8-3 lead over the Wolves before a kill from Sarah Halversen broke up the run. Scoring went back and forth but Eastern Oregon built up their lead. Down 20-12, Lauren Barlow sent a ball down hard on the left side for a kill. Eastern quickly regained control of the set and a block from Madisen Garlie and Megan Bunn of Eastern Oregon ended the set 25-14 as the Mountaineers, who took the match 3-0.
Up Next
Walla Walla host #8 College of Idaho Saturday, September 30. Match start time is set for 8:00 p.m.