No. 15 Mountaineers Battle No. 13 SOU, Fall in 5 Sets 8/31/2018 11:01:08 PM LA GRANDE, Ore. – After going back and forth the first four sets, Southern Oregon came away with the fifth set and the match over the Eastern Oregon volleyball team Friday night at Quinn Coliseum. No. 13 SOU (9-0, 2-0 CCC) came into the match as hot as possible. The Raiders won their first eight matches, each in straight sets, making it 24 straight to start the year. EOU did not make it easy on them, however, winning the second and fourth sets to force a dramatic final stanza. The No. 15 Mountaineers (5-4, 0-1 CCC) gave the Raiders their toughest test of the season, and looked dominant at times. Each team thrived off momentum shifts, but the match ended in favor of SOU (21-25, 27-25, 21-25, 25-11, 7-15). The Mountaineers trailed for most of the first set, dropping it 25-21. They came back after being down 14-20, and shrunk the deficit to 19-21 before the Raiders took six of the last eight points. Sophomore Kiley McMurtrey tallied seven digs in the first set, leading the team. EOU came out strong in the second set and ended up taking it 27-25. They were tied at 7-7 early on, but strong play from the Mountaineers led them to a set win. It was tight the whole way, but the Blue and Gold denied a Southern set point before coming back to win it. Back-to-back blocks at 24-25 and 25-25 saved the set for EOU. This was the first set that Southern had lost all year, winning their first 25 to open 2018. Southern Oregon started the third set very efficiently, and jumped out to a 19-10 lead. The Mountaineers battled back and brought the score to 23-20, but ended up falling 25-21. EOU owned the fourth set from start to finish. It started with the Mounties leading 10-7, and ended with a 15-4 run. This shifted the momentum strongly in favor of EOU, and forced SOU into a situation that they had not been in all year. The Mountaineers were aggressive and set the pace, winning easily 25-11. However, the fifth set did not go well for the Mounties. They dropped it 15-7, to give the Raiders the 3-2 victory. The hitters performed well, highlighted by junior Taylor Tibbetts who smashed 10 kills, and junior Hailee Ackerman who added 12 kills of her own. Ackerman worked efficiently, finishing with a .500 attack percentage. Sophomore Madison Pilon and senior Sarah Carpenter were setting up teammates all night long, recording 15 and 23 assists respectively. The team as a whole totaled 11 blocks, five more than SOU. McMurtrey impressed in multiple ways, tallying 19 digs, which led all players, and had four service aces. She also added three assists to her stellar stat line. Sophomore Aspen Christiansen finished second on the team in digs, with 15 of her own. SOU’s hitters came ready to play with four of them finishing with double-digit kills. Senior setter Natalie James assisted the Raiders’ hitters 28 times in the match. The Mountaineers next host Oregon Tech Saturday at 7 p.m. in Quinn Coliseum. For more information on Eastern Oregon volleyball, follow @EOUAthletics or visit eousports.com. FOLLOW EOU ATHLETICS Facebook | Twitter | Instagram | YouTube Contact: Iain Dexter; 541-962-3946; idexter@eou.edu