Eastern Oregon Punches Ticket to CCC Championship Match with Sweep of Bushnell
EOU Sports Information
LA GRANDE, Ore. – No. 1 overall seed Eastern Oregon University Volleyball punched its ticket to Cascade Collegiate Conference Championship Friday night with a 3-0 (25-17, 25-23, 25-20) sweep over the No. 4-seeded Bushnell Beacons. With the win, EOU improves to 16-0 on the year and will face No.2 seed Corban University in the Championship match.
How it Happened
• EOU hit .299 on the night and held the Beacons (13-6) to just .125 in the three-set showdown. The Mountaineers totaled nine blocks on the night and surrendered five to Bushnell. EOU also had the edge in digs and kills at 54-43 and 40-36, respectively.
• In the first set, Bushnell kept pace with the eighth-ranked Mountaineers and held a 4-4 tie early on. The Beacons eventually jumped ahead 8-7 and 9-8 before Eastern responded. The Mountaineers after trailing by one at 9-8 went on an 8-3 run to go ahead 17-11.
• In the run, both Jet Taylor and Madison Pilon each tallied a pair of kills to pace the Mountaineers offense. The Beacons looked to respond but never got any closer than four points following the scoring surge by Eastern. EOU capped the set winning 25-17.
• The Beacons forced the issue late in the second set and nearly pulled off the comeback before falling by two, 25-23. EOU held a five-point lead at multiple points in the set but the Beacons hung around and made things interesting in the later half.
• Eastern jumped out to a 7-3 advantage in the frame as Preslee Jensen and Mariah Moulton both posted two kills apiece to lead the way. Bushnell answered though going on a 6-1 run to go ahead 9-8 before a kill by Sade Williams tied it at 9-all.
• Following the Williams kill, EOU pieced together another mid-set scoring surge to jump in front 16-11 which forced a Bushnell timeout as the Mountaineers led by five. Bushnell tried to keep pace but Eastern was able to hold that five-point edge and led 21-16 late.
• Bushnell called its second timeout after going down 21-16 and out of the quick breather, the Beacons scored four straight points to get within one 21-20. They never managed to tie the set as EOU got kills from four different players to go up 24-22 before service errors by both teams ended the set at 25-23.
• The Mountaineers had a solid start to the third and final set as they jumped out to an 8-3 lead and forced a Bushnell timeout right out the gate. The Beacons had it tied at 2-2 before Eastern pushed ahead with a 6-1 run to go up by five.
• EOU managed to hold its lead at 4-5 points following the early surge but it was at the midway point of the set where Bushnell caught some stride to get within one. The Mountaineers led 12-7 before a 4-0 run by the Beacons made it a 12-11 game and forced EOU to call its first timeout of the match.
• Eastern responded out of the timeout scoring four straight points to go ahead 16-11. Helping the Mountaineers in the run was three attack errors by Bushnell along with a double block from Madison Morgan and Cambree Scott.
• Bushnell tried again to respond against the Mountaineers but this time fell short before bowing out in straight sets. The Beacons were within three, 21-19, late and hoped to rally like they did in the second set, but EOU surrendered just one more point the rest of the way to secure the 25-20 win.
Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Sade Williams paced the offense with nine kills in the win and hit .348 for the match. She also tallied nine digs and had two blocks.
• Three players finished with seven kills for EOU in Cambree Scott, Jet Taylor, and Mariah Moulton.
• For Scott and Taylor, both finished with four blocks as well, while Moulton had two.
• Preslee Jensen chipped in five kills and hit .556 on the night to help pace the offense.
• Madison Pilon dished out 29 assists in the win and tallied a season-high three kills as well.
• Kiley McMurtrey finished with 12 digs to lead the back row while Aspen Christiansen had 11.
Beacons Stat Leaders
• Cambria Lingenfelder had nine kills to lead Bushnell and tallied nine digs in the loss. She also had a match-high four service aces.
• Jessica Northcutt had seven kills on the night to go along with a pair of digs.
• Payton Jones and Natalie Martin each chipped in six kills. Jones also led the front row with four blocks.
• Makenna Northern tallied 29 assists to tie the match-high with Pilon. She also had four digs on defense.
• Callie Wilkins led the back row with 12 digs and had one assist in the loss.
Up Next
• The top-seeded Mountaineers will face off against the No.2-seeded Corban Warriors for the CCC Tournament Title tomorrow (Saturday). First serve for the championship match is set for 4 p.m. PT inside Quinn Coliseum.