SPOKANE, Wash. – The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team continues its great start to the 2012 season with a sweep over Great Falls in the Red Lion Cascade/Frontier Conference Challenge Friday.
The Mountaineers (5-1) have won five straight matches since dropping their season opener to No. 10 Vanguard. EOU surpassed its longest win set win streak from last season, winning its 15th consecutive set. Eastern went on a 13-set win streak midway through the 2011 season.
In the first match of the day, Eastern finished with a .290 attack percentage as a team. EOU had a 46-29 kill advantage, 39-28 assist advantage, and a 56-52 dig advantage. The Mountaineers finished with five service aces. Tech ended with a .130 team attack percentage. The OreDiggers had 15 attack errors to Eastern Oregon's 12.
Casey Loper led the Mountaineers with nine kills and a .529 hitting percentage. Karly Stack, Jessica Perron and Bobbi Sumpter combined for 33 assists. Kaitlyn Duncan had 21 digs, while Rebecca Haight added 10. Alisha Crane and Stefani Sorensen both were in on two blocks.
Eastern controlled the match as it never trailed in the three sets, and the match featured no ties. EOU never dropped below a .280 attack percentage in the three sets, as its lowest percentage came in the first set when it was .282.
Tech (2-1) was led by Katie Tabaracci's seven kills. Alison Lunde had a match-high 27 assists, after having the most assists in a single match on day one with 41. Kimmy Kavran led also led the first day in digs, after having 32 Thursday, she had a match-high 24 against EOU. Sydney Norris added three service aces.
In Eastern's secnd match of the day, Stack and Perron combined for 44 of the Mountaineers’ 46 assists. Irene Walters and Sorensen had 11 and 10 kills respectively. Duncan finished with 16 digs, while Taylor Stewart added 11. Casey Loper had three blocks.
As a team, Eastern Oregon finished with nine blocks. The Mountaineers had a .393 attack percentage, while UGF was at .255. EOU had a 50-36 kill advantage.
The first set was tied six times before a 7-7 score went to 12-7 in favor of the Mountaineers. EOU would not lose the lead. Eastern stretched the lead to 18-10, and had its largest lead at 21-12.
Eastern controlled the second set, losing the lead only once, beginning the set down 2-0. The Mountineers’ lead was not large, until it changed a 20-17 margin to 25-17.
The third and final set was the closest with nine ties and four lead changes. Eastern Oregon’s largest lead was 22-17, but the margin stayed within two points most of the set.
The Argos (4-3) were led by Kelsey Vanuden’s match-high 14 kills. Averi Pasma and Kila Adams had 15 and 14 assists. Jenna Prescott finished with 13 digs.
The Frontier Conference has dominated the Challenge so far, winning 12 of the 16 matches against the Cascade Conference. Eastern Oregon has three of the Cascade Conference’s four victories.
The Mountaineers play Montana State-Northern and Carroll College Saturday to close the tournament. Northern, Carroll, and Eastern are the three undefeated teams left in volleyball.
Eastern Oregon and MSUN is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. Live stats are available on EOUSports.com.