SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The No. 14 Eastern Oregon University volleyball team advanced to the quarterfinals of the 2014 NAIA Volleyball National Championship, presented by J&L Enterprises, after defeating No. 15 Georgetown College, 3-2 (25-23, 20-25, 25-11, 27-29, 15-12).
With the win, the Mountaineers face Biola (Calif.) at 6 p.m. PT in the Quarterfinals.
Casey Loper led the Mountaineers with 17 kills, while
Katina Ferguson followed with 12.
Rachelle Chamberlain dished out, a match-high, 53 assists.
Jessalyn Smith recorded 28 digs in the match.
The Mountaineers and Tigers were locked in a highly contested first set and after a kill by Allyson Wilbourn the set was tied at, 9-9. After Wilbourn's kill, the Mountaineers went on a 3-0 run to take a 12-9 lead. EOU continued to hold the lead and extended it to five points, 21-17, after a Tigers attack error. Georgetown would not go away, as they mounted a comeback and an EOU attack error gave the Tigers a 23-22 lead. EOU bounced right back and scored the last three points of the set and took set one, 25-23.
In the second set, Georgetown started to pull away early from the Mountaineers. With the Tigers ahead, 7-4, EOU scored the next three points to tie the set. Georgetown slowly started to pull away and extended their lead to 19-13. EOU slowly chipped away at the lead but could not come all the way back and dropped set two, 25-20.
The Mountaineers jumped all over the Tigers in the third set, as EOU raced out to a 4-0 lead, after an
Isabelle Statkus assist. The Tigers trimmed the lead to 6-4 but could not get any closer than that, when Eastern Oregon started to pull away. After a Loper kill, the Mountaineers led 21-9. EOU took set three, 25-11. EOU hit .313 in the set and held the Tigers to a -.036 attack percentage.
The fourth set was a back and forth affair that saw 13 ties. Early in the set, the Tigers held an 8-3 lead, but the Mountaineers battled back to tie the set, at 10-10, after an ace by
Piper Cantrell. Georgetown continued to hold the upper hand as EOU could not find their way to the lead. EOU's first lead came at 20-19, after an
Amanda Miller kill, however, the lead did not last long as the Tigers answered. Georgetown took set four, 29-27, forcing a fifth set.
In the fifth set, the Mountaineers jumped out to an early lead and held it until Georgetown tied it, at 7-7. After the set was tied, EOU took a one point lead but the Tigers responded by scoring the next point to tie the set. With the set tied at 10-10, the Mountaineers slowly pulled away and took a 14-11 lead. After the Tigers scored one more point, to make the score 14-12, Statkus gave EOU the set, 15-12, as she recorded her eighth kill of the day.