BUTTE, Mont. – The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team picked up its first win of the season Friday night at the War Bonnet Hotel Tournament hosted by Montana Tech.

The Mountaineers (1-1) defeated Montana State-Northern, 3-2, after trailing 1-2, in the second match of the day for EOU. The win was a first for head coach Hailey Pearce.

“I am extremely proud of the intensity level the girls played at,” Pearce said. “Serve receive was some of the best I've seen, only getting aced on twice the whole day. It was exciting to finally play some games after so many double-day practices and I was very happy with their first day of competition. We were happy to have so much support all the way in Montana from our school president, athletic director, faculty athletic rep, family and friends.”

The day began with a three-game loss to Rocky Mountain College (5-0) for the Mountaineers. The Battlin' Bears jumped out to a lead in the first game and won, 25-16. The second game went back-and-forth until RMC pulled away, 26-24. The third game was almost identical to the second with both teams sharing the lead at times, but Rocky Mountain won, 26-24.

Jessica Lea finished the first match with 12 kills and Irene Walters added nine. Kaitlyn Duncan finished with a team-high 17 digs. Emily Sampson had 14 assists for Eastern Oregon.

Against Montana State-Northern (1-2), EOU fell behind early after losing the first game, 22-25, and third game, 20-25. The Mountaineers won the second game, 25-21. Eastern added a key fourth game win, 25-23, which forced a fifth game. The Lights couldn't stop Eastern Oregon in the final game, and the Mountaineers came away with a 15-12 victory.

Lea added another 19 kills in the second match, while Walters chipped in 17 kills and 20 digs. Duncan had a team-high 24 digs. Sampson led the team again with 26 assists and Lea added 25 assists. Leigh Anne MacCarthy had three aces and Lisa Steinbach had three blocks.

Eastern faces the host, Montana Tech, at 11 a.m. MT Saturday and closes the tournament against Montana Western at 3 p.m. MT. Check EOUSports.com throughout the day for updates.