Box Score | Mountie Recap | Warrior Recap
La Grande, Ore. – Eastern Oregon University earned the 2023 Cascade Collegiate Conference Volleyball Tournament Championship today at Quinn Coliseum in La Grande, Oregon.
After being crowned the top two seeds of the CCC Tournament, presented by U.S. Bank, Eastern Oregon (30-1, 21-1 CCC) and Corban University (26-6, 19-3 CCC) faced off in the final match of the tournament for the fourth straight year.
The Mounties defeated the Warriors for the third time this season. Tonight ended in a 3-1 (25-17, 25-21, 18-25, 25-20) battle as the No. 3-reanked EOU and No.7-ranked CRB grinded for the CCC trophy. Both teams only had to win once to make it to the newly established eight seed conference tournament.
This year, Corban was the CCC preseason favorite but fell to Eastern Oregon for the 2023 Regular Season title. After defeating the third seed and No. 12-Ranked Southern Oregon University in the Semifinals, the Warriors were prepared to take on the defending Champions. Corban was led by CCC Rize laboratory Player of the Year, Rylee Troutman who secured 15 kills, three digs, and two blocks in her final conference championship.
The only thing in their way was the defending champions of Eastern Oregon University, which continued into the tournament on a tight five set match with College of Idaho in the Semifinals.
Despite the Warrior's best efforts, Eastern Oregon impressed offensively, with standout performances from Ashton Haughton and Keira Vaughn, contributing 16 and 15 kills, respectively. Hannah Ledgerwood also showed out for the Mounties with 33 total assists, while libero Hailey Arritola provided crucial defensive support with 17 digs. EOU was led in blocking by Mylie Mills and Kiauna Mack, combining for half of the teams 18 blocks. This marked the team's 19th consecutive win.
"The Cascade Conference is one of the toughest and this tournament is an example of that. It helps prepare us in the best way for the post season," stated head coach Kaki McLean Morehead. "I'm excited to see what this team can do in the next few weeks."
Both teams earned the CCC's Automatic Qualifiers to the NAIA National Tournament. They will find out their opponents when the NAIA announces official qualifiers (NAIA YouTube Channel), with the first and second round set to begin later next week.