EOU Fights off Pesky Beacons to Stay Undefeated
EUGENE, Ore. – Northwest Christian University dropped their fourth straight match on Saturday, while No. 8 Eastern Oregon won their fifth in straight sets, 25-19, 25-21, 25-23.
The Beacons are still winless in the Cascade Collegiate Conference, but by the way they fought with Eastern Oregon on Saturday, there is no doubt that a breakthrough is on the horizon. The NCU defensive effort never let EOU too far out of their sights with the Mountie lead never growing to more than five points.
Eastern Oregon (9-1, 4-0 CCC) was led by Kendra De Hoog (pictured) with a match-best 14 kills, hitting .370. As a team the Mounties hit .239 with just 16 attack errors. Rachelle Chamberlain led all players with 31 assists while Emily Nay collected nine kills and a match-high seven blocks.
The Beacons (7-4, 0-4) were led by junior Taylor Burnett who hit .423 with 12 kills and eight digs. Setters Laurie Salness and Marsha Poischbeg contributed eleven assists a piece while Chandler Gabrio and Carissa Allen each posted a pair of blocks. Defensively, the Beacons out-dug EOU, 45-50 led by 13 digs from Hailey Damian. The serve receive only gave the Mounties three service Aces while the NCU servers pounded out nine aces on their side. Gabrio led the way in that category as well, collecting six aces.
The Beacons will look to get back into the win column on Tuesday when they face off with Corban University. The Warriors are 1-3 in the CCC after upsetting The College of Idaho in four sets on Saturday.