SALEM, Ore. – There has been no hotter team in the NAIA than the No. 10-ranked Eastern Oregon Mountaineers, who began the 2019 campaign with 11-straight triumphs coming into their match with the No. 19-ranked Corban University volleyball team on Saturday evening. After dropping set one, the Warriors responded by taking three sets in a row (20-25, 27-25, 25-21, 25-23) to stun the Mounties and cap off a perfect weekend at home.
"This weekend was a great test for us," said head coach Kim McLain. "The win tonight showed that we can battle with the top teams in the nation. This team's grit and tenacity was second to none!"
In an arena still energized from the previous night's victory, the Mountaineers quickly quieted the C.E. Jeffers Sports Center by taking set one by a 25-20 margin. The squad would then jump out to early 5-2 lead in game two, demonstrating the prowess and talent that has wreaked havoc on opposing foes early in the 2019 campaign.
Unfazed, the Navy and Gold climbed back to erase the set-two deficit, eventually resulting in a nail-biting back-and-forth affair.
A critical moment in the match occurred while game two was knotted at 25 points apiece, as Corban's Avari Ridgway blasted a ball that appeared to tip off a Mountaineer defender for a kill. There was uncertainty regarding the original call, and after the officials convened, it was determined that the point did belong to the Warriors, giving Corban a crucial 26-25 advantage in the set.
After completing the game-two triumph, the Warriors rode that momentum to victories in sets three and four, capped off by a thrilling four-point run to seal the match in the final set.
It's the first loss of the season for the Mounties, who now move to 11-1 overall and 1-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference (CCC) play. Eastern Oregon's Megan Bunn tallied a team-leading 13 kills, but no member of the squad—with at least five total attempts—hit above a .200 clip.
As a team, the Mountaineers hit at a season-low .099 mark; it is the second-straight night in which the Warriors have held an NAIA Top-25 foe to a sub-.100 attacking percentage.
Jacquelyn Clark, Sarena Bartley, Sarah Randall, and Ridgway were crucial to the squad's defensive success, with each member of the quartet garnering five block assists in the triumph. Bartley (14 kills) and Randall (10 kills) were equally impressive on the attacking end.
It was Cassie Cunningham who shined brightest, with the Creswell, Ore. native compiling a game-high 17 kills to lead the way for McLain and company.
The Warriors' two-setter tandem of Cierra Leopoldino (24 assists) and Jadyn Mullen (23 assists) provided its usual consistency, combining for 47 assists and 38 digs.
It's hard to imagine a better start to conference play for the Navy and Gold (5-3, 2-0 CCC), which will now look ahead to road matches against Northwest University and Evergreen on Friday (7 p.m.) and Saturday (5 p.m.) of next weekend.