LA GRANDE, Ore. - The No. 13 EOU Volleyball (16-5, 11-2 CCC) checks off a solid win over Warner Pacific during Dig Pink Weekend at Quinn Coliseum on Friday night. The Mountaineer's improve their home winning streak to six games as they took down the Knights (6-13, 5-9 CCC) in four sets in Cascade Collegiate Conference play.
After dropping the first set 24-26, the Mountaineer's came back with vengeance in the last three sets to take the game from the visiting Knights. Outplaying Warner in blocks, aces, and digs throughout the four sets, EOU upped their game to win 25-19, 25-21, 25-17 after the initial first set loss.
Leading the Mountaineer offense was junior Megan Bunn with 11 kills while fellow junior Hailee Ackerman was next in line with seven kills. Next up was junior transfer Allyson Crisp who tallied six kills. On the blocking side of EOU's defense, freshman Jet Taylor had a career high of eight blocks. Right under her was junior transfer Nina Bailey who had six blocks.
In the back row, sophomore libero Kiley McMurtrey had 21 digs. Assists were led by senior setter Sarah Carpenter who had 20 while sophomore setter Madison Pilon had 11 assists.
In the first set the Knights went on quite a few runs to gain a solid lead over the Blue and Gold. As the match moved closer to 25 points, the Knights came back from 24-21 to win the first set with 3 kills and 3 errors by the Mountaineers.
Needing to take the next set, EOU turned everything around by starting the second set off with a 6-2 lead over the Knights. As the set went on, it was clear that the Mountaineers were ready to take it when they pulled away at 20-9. Both offense and defense led a strong effort to play clean and keep the ball in the court. With kills from Ackerman, Crisp, Scott, and Bunn the set was over by a score of 25-19.
In the the third set, EOU continued its intensity to claim a lead in the match. Despite both teams playing neck and neck, the Mountaineer's refused to let this one get away as they capitalized on Warner's errors and had some huge block to add momentum to the team late. The Blue and Gold left the Knights at 21 points as they got match point.
The fourth set wrapped up the night to complete the win. The Mountaineer's pulled away from Warner at 17-10 and finished them up with some huge blocks. EOU ended the game with an impressive score of 25-17.
On the WPU side, Melisa Ljuca had 18 kills and Lauren Tennyson had 11 kills. Meghan Turner had 27 digs and a game-high of 40 assists was tallied by Kealia Rosa.
The Blue and Gold continue their home stand on Saturday against Multnomah at 5:00 p.m. at Quinn Coliseum.
For more information about the EOU Volleyball team follow @EOUAthletics or go to eousports.com.
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Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu