SIOUX CITY, Iowa - 12th-ranked Mountaineers Volleyball battled for five sets on Tuesday afternoon against No. 21 Northwestern College but came up short. Eastern Oregon fell 3-2 (22-25, 25-20, 16-25, 25-22, 8-15) in its first game of pool play. With the loss, the Mountaineers are now 26-8 on the year.
How it Happened
• Helping the Raiders (20-10) in the win was a defensive effort that held the Mountaineers to a .087 attack clip. Northwestern did not fare much better, only hitting .163 in five sets.
• It was a close match statistically as both squads had four service aces, while Northwestern had a slim 13-12 edge in blocks. The Raiders also had the advantage in kills by just five, 57-52.
• The Mountaineers used a fast start in the first set and grabbed a 7-2 lead early on. It was a 2-2 tie before a 5-0 run by Eastern put them up by five and forced a Northwestern timeout.
• Out of the timeout, EOU put together a quick 3-1 surge that made it a 10-3 contest. Northwestern slowly got back into the game and eventually tied the contest at 13-all at the midway point. Helping the Raiders get back in it was a 10-3 run which ultimately led to an EOU timeout.
• A kill out of the short breather out Northwest up 14-13 and back-to-back service aces made it a 16-13 game in the blink of an eye. EOU looked to respond but the Raiders ultimately went on a 6-0 run to lead 18-13.
• The Mountaineers got within three, 21-18, before Northwestern jumped ahead 24-19. Eastern made one final comeback effort and got within two, 24-22, but fell short, dropping the frame by three, 25-22.
• In the second set, EOU jumped ahead 3-1 to start but the Raiders responded scoring four straight to go up 5-3. EOU answered on a
Cambree Scott kill followed by a double block from
Ashton Haughton and
Jet Taylor to tie the set at 5-all.
• The set then became a back-and-forth affair as the two teams traded points. The Raiders went ahead 9-6 before a 6-1 run by the Mountaineers put them ahead 12-10.
• The surge from the Mountaineers helped them grab a 16-12 lead midway through the set. Northwestern called a timeout but out of the breather EOU outscored them 3-1 to lead 19-13, leading to another timeout.
• Late in the frame, the Raiders made one last push to nearly mount the comeback. They trailed 20-15 and got within three, 21-18. EOU held on though to win by five, 25-20, and tie the match at 1-all.
• The third set was back-and-forth to start with neither team leading by more than three. As the two teams approached the midway point it was a 10-all tie.
• The Raiders grabbed a 13-11 lead that forced an EOU timeout. The Mountaineers then got back-to-back kills from
Sade Williams to tie the set at 13-all.
• Eastern used a 3-0 run to go ahead 14-13 but the Raiders responded scoring four unanswered to lead 17-14.
• Northwestern eventually pushed its lead to 19-15 thanks to a 6-1 run and forced another EOU timeout. The short break made difference as the Raiders surged ahead 21-15 before closing out the set with what was a 12-2 run to win by nine, 25-16.
• Trailing 2-1, Eastern once again responded to force a pivotal fifth and decisive set. They opened the fourth frame grabbing a 7-3 lead on the Raiders on a quick 4-0 run.
• Northwestern looked to keep things close but the 4-0 run by the Mountaineers grew to 6-1 to put them ahead 9-4. The Raiders burned a timeout and answered out of the quick break.
• A 6-0 Northwestern run put them up 10-9 and it became another back-and-forth affair. Midway through the set, Eastern held a 16-12 lead to force a Raiders timeout.
• The Mountaineers pushed their lead to 18-13 out of the timeout before Northwestern got back into the match. A 4-0 run by the Raiders cut EOU's lead to 18-16 and forced a timeout.
• The Raiders got within one out of the timeout, 18-17, and eventually tied the set at 19-all. It was a 21-all tie late before
Cambree Scott took over.
• Scott racked up three straight kills and assisted on a block to give EOU the 25-22 win to force a fifth and decisive set.
• In the fifth set, EOU led 2-1 to start, but a 5-1 run gave Northwestern a 6-2 lead and forced a timeout. EOU was able to get within two, 7-5, before the Raiders closed out the set.
• A quick 2-0 purge by the Raiders made it 10-5 and the Mounties were unable to respond. Northwestern ultimately outscored EOU 14-6 to win the set, 15-8, and the series, 3-2.
Mountaineers Stat Leaders
•
Sade Williams paced the offense with 11 kills and had 18 digs for a double-double.
•
Cambree Scott added eight kills and racked up a team best six blocks.
•
Ashton Haughton and
Jet Taylor each had eight kills in the loss and five blocks, respectively.
•
Breanna Shaffer also chipped in eight kills.
•
Alexis McMurtrey had a match-high 28 assists and tallied 12 digs for a double-double.
•
Hannah Ledgerwood also had a double-double with 19 assists and 11 digs.
•
Hailey Arritola led the back row with 30 digs.
For the Raiders
• Macay Van't Hul led the way on offense and defense. She had a match-high 15 kills while hitting .591 and tallied a match best eight blocks.
• Alysen Dexter posted 11 kills and 18 digs for a double-double. She also had four blocks.
• Bekah Horstman added 10 kills and six blocks.
• Katie Peters and Olivia Schaub each had 10 kills and combined for seven blocks.
• Olivia Granstra dished out 26 assists and had 15 digs for a double-double.
• Jadeyn Schutt also had a double-double with 17 assists and digs, respectively.
• Emily Strasser led the way with a match-high 32 digs and had 11 assists for a double-double.
By the Numbers
5 - The Mountaineers streak of making it to bracket play for the National Championships is halted at five.
7 - EOU is now 14-7 all-time in pool play following Tuesday's loss.
3 - Tuesday's match marks just the third time this season Eastern has hit under .100.
6 - The Mountaineers had six different players finish with seven or more kills.
5 -
Ashton Haughton's five blocks are a match high for her career.
Quotable
Head Coach Kaki McLean Morehead
Thoughts on the performance of Northwestern's defense against EOU's offense: At the end of the day Northwestern just played better than we did today. They played better on defense, made less errors and ran a more effective offense than us. We had opportunities but in certain moments we were unable to finish. Hats off to their squad for playing very well in their second match of the day.
On how balanced the Mountaineers offense was with six players finishing with seven-plus kills in the match: It was nice to have multiple players involved in the offense tonight, however we still need to be more effective and make less errors if we want to win tight matches like that.
Getting the team motivated and ready to go for tomorrow's finale against No. 5 College of Saint Mary: Coming off a close game like tonight, it is a bit tough to be positive about tomorrow. Regardless, we can go out on the court tomorrow with absolutely no pressure to advance and enjoy the last time playing together this season. I think I speak for any coach in this position, it's tough to find that energy, but I think our women will be ready to go tomorrow and make the most out of our final match.
Up Next
• The Mountaineers wrap up pool play action tomorrow, Wednesday, Dec. 1 against No. 9 College of Saint Mary. First serve is set for 11 a.m. PT on court 1 at the Tyson Events Center.
• With Northwestern going 2-0 against EOU and College of Saint Mary, they advance to bracket play as the winners of pool F.
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