Corban Takes Down Eastern Oregon 3-1 to Win CCC Tournament Championship
EOU Sports Information
LA GRANDE, Ore. – In a battle of two top-15 NAIA teams in the 2020 Cascade Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship it was No. 13 Corban University that came out on top as the Warriors took down No. 8 Eastern Oregon University in four sets (25-21, 25-21, 25-23, 27-25) to win this year’s tournament title. With the tournament title win, the Warriors claim the second automatic qualifying bid to the NAIA National Tournament.
How it Happened
• The Warriors (12-4) took down the Mountaineers (16-1) with the help of a .224 hitting percentage and held Eastern Oregon to just .224 in the contest. Both teams were evenly matched in early every statistical category, but what helped Corban was a 61-50 edge in total kills.
• In the opening set, EOU managed to race out to a 5-0 lead against Corban before the Warriors burned it first timeout. Eastern managed to maintain a 4-5 point lead for much of the early going in the set before Corban got within two at 11-9.
• Eastern managed to stay in the front for much of the set thanks to the early surge, but Corban battled back each time and managed to grab the lead late in the set thanks to a 5-0 run. Trailing 18-15, the Warriors ripped off the five straight points to go ahead 20-18.
• The surge was enough as Corban never relinquished the lead the rest of the set and went on to secure the 25-21 win in the opening frame. The momentum from the opening set win carried over as they mimicked the same score and led wire-to-wire to go up 2-0 overall.
• The Warriors’ momentum from the first set win carried over to the start of the second set as they raced out to a 7-1 lead and forced the Mountaineers to call a timeout. The opening surge was enough for them as they never let EOU tie the rest of the set.
• EOU managed to cut its deficit to five at the near-midway point of the set when a kill from Sade Williams made it an 11-6 game, but the Warriors then surged ahead with a 5-3 scoring spurt that put them in front by seven, 16-9. A kill from Cora Furman ended the surge to put Corban up seven.
• The Mountaineers slowly battled back into the contest and forced the issue late, but it was not enough. EOU got within two, 23-21 late in the frame before a kill from Ally Tow and a service ace closed out the frame and put Corban in front 2-0 overall.
• EOU lone set win of the night came in the fourth as the team secured a 25-23 win to avoid the sweep. The Warriors got ahead 6-3 early on before EOU battled back to tie it at 8-all early on. The Mountaineers went on a 4-0 run after trailing 8-4 to tie the set.
• It was a back-and-forth affair after the tie for a bit as the Mountaineers and Warriors traded points until the middle part of the frame. EOU trailed 13-12 before going on a 4-0 run to jump ahead 16-13. Kills from Cambree Scott and Williams helped spark the quick surge to put the Mountaineers ahead.
• Corban was able to respond outscoring the Mountaineers 5-1 to regain the lead at 18-17. A quick 3-0 run by the Mountaineers helped them retake the lead as Preslee Jensen had two kills to help push EOU ahead 20-18.
• Corban never managed to tie the set up after going down by two. The Warriors got within one at 24-23 with a chance to force extra points, but a kill by Cambree Scott sealed the set at 25-23. Trailing 2-1 overall, EOU forced extra points in the fourth set but fell short of the comeback.
• It was a close fight in the early going as the two squads traded points and were tied at 6-all early on. Corban then went on a 4-0 surge to grab a 10-6 lead before Eastern responded. The surge helped Corban stay in front until late in the match.
• The Warriors managed to lead by as much as eight in the fourth set as another surge, this time 5-0, helped them go in front 15-7 before the Mountaineers had an answer. The Warriors managed to maintain a 5-7 point lead from that surge until the mountaineers responded late in the frame.
• Trailing 19-13, EOU then went on a 7-0 run to regain the lead late at 20-19 and forced a Corban timeout. Out of the break, the Warriors scored three-straight to grab the 22-20 lead. EOU tied it again at 22-all before the two teams traded points late in the set.
• A kill from Madison Morgan tied the match at 25-all for the Mountaineers before kills from Avari Ridgway and Cora Furman sealed the match for the Warriors to give them their third CCC Tournament Title in program history.
Warriors Stat Leaders
• Ally Tow paces the offense with 15 kills and hit .250 in the win to go along with six blocks and digs, respectively.
• Avari Ridgway had 13 kills in the win to go along with a trio of blocks.
• Sarena Bartley added 12 kills and had two digs.
• Rylee Troutman rounded out the double-digit kill group with 10 to go along with a service ace.
• Jadyn Mullen had 27 assists in the win to lead Corban, while Ciara Judson 22.
• Kaelani Ontai had 20 digs to lead the Warriors back row, while Makenna Campbell and Marissa Uehara each had 10.
Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Sade Williams paced the Mountaineers with 14 kills and hit .256 in the match. She also tallied three blocks in the loss.
• Cambree Scott posted 12 kills in the win and had four blocks on the night.
• Jet Taylor had six blocks in four sets and tallied five kills.
• Madison Pilon dished out 32 assists in the loss and had two service aces to go along with 11 digs.
• Kiley McMurtrey had 26 digs to lead the back row and had one service ace.
Up Next
• Both Eastern Oregon and Corban will await their postseason fates. Both squads earned automatic bids to the NAIA National Tournament and will now await who to see who their opening round opponents will be. The field for this year’s National Tournament will be announced Monday, April 13 at 8 a.m. PT.