Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo.
Mountaineers deny SOU comeback in tiebreaker
SOU Sports Information
ASHLAND – Fifth-ranked Southern Oregon dug itself one too many holes on Saturday night and couldn't climb out in the tiebreaker of a 25-18, 25-17, 21-25, 17-25, 15-11 loss to No. 8 Eastern Oregon on Saturday night at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
After extending the match with third- and fourth-set wins, the Raiders (15-3 overall, 6-2 Cascade Conference) fell behind 7-1 in the fifth. The last of Maddie Pernich's 17 kills got them within 9-8 in capping a 6-1 spurt, but EOU's Cambree Scott and Breanna Shaffer teamed up for two blocks and had two kills apiece the rest of the way.
Scott finished with 11 kills and seven of EOU's 13 total blocks, which sunk the Raiders' attacking average to .133. Shaffer had 12 kills and assisted five blocks, and Megan Bunn attacked 52 times to reach her 17-kill total.
EOU (17-1, 7-1) took over sole possession of second place behind unbeaten Corban.
The Mountaineers dominated the first two sets, piling up 25 kills and just four attacking errors to hit .324 and .333. SOU responded in the third behind Taylor Ristvedt's four kills, and Pernich registered six without an error in the fourth.
Ristvedt finished with 15 kills on 45 attacks and hit .200. Makayla Hoyt dropped in eight kills on a .318 average and Kylie Ristvedt contributed six.
SOU's back-row defense extended points and the match for the second night in a row, led by Emma Ryan (28 digs) and Sara Fanger (23), who established a new career-high for digs. Elliott Cook assisted four of the team's six blocks.
Madison Pilon orchestrated EOU's attack with 47 assists and collected 16 digs.