Eastern Oregon Outlasts WPC
PORTLAND, Ore. – Eastern Oregon outlasted Warner Pacific, 3-2, in a thrilling match at C.C. Perry Gym tonight, snapping a three match win streak for the Knights.
The contest was a battle from the beginning, as three of the frames went into extra points.
The host Knights (15-9, 9-7 CCC) built an 18-11 lead in set one, only to see EOU storm back to tie the score at 21-21. After the teams traded points, WP took the set 27-25 thanks to a Mikaela Lisoski kill and an ace from Samantha Bryan.
Eastern Oregon (19-6, 12-4 CCC) started slowly again in set two, falling behind 18-12 in the early going. The Mounties staged another comeback and this one stuck as they fought off five set points to win 27-25.
Set three was close until the midway point with EOU leading 16-14. That’s when Rebecca Haight toed the service line for EOU and sparked the Mounties to a 7-0 run which included two aces. WP rallied for three straight points in response but the damage was done and Eastern Oregon claimed the set 25-17.
Neither team led by more than three points in a hard-fought set three which saw seven lead changes. The score was tied four times down the stretch until WP finally prevailed 27-25 after kills from Devan Belshe and Marchelle Bostic.
The deciding set belonged to the visitors as EOU jumped out to a 5-1 advantage. A kill from Shayla Dahl brought WP back within two (9-7), but Alisha Crane came up with two big blocks including a stuff that gave the set to EOU the set 15-11.
WP’s Devan Belshe swung for 19 kills to lead all players, while Rylie Engelson added 16 kills and 24 assists. Samantha Bryan contributed a season high 28 assists.
EOU was led by Stefanie Sorenson with 15 kills, while Karly Stack had 39 assists.