BUTTE, Mont. – The Eastern Oregon University volleyball closed the War Bonnet Hotel Tournament with a three-game sweep over Montana Western Saturday.

The Mountaineers (2-2) began the day nearly pulling off quite a comeback. After falling in the first two games to the host school, Montana Tech, 19-25 and 16-25, EOU battled back winning the next two games and forced a fifth game. Eastern won games two and three, 25-23 and 25-17.

Eastern continued its momentum into the final game, but the OreDiggers were poised to pick up the victory at home. Both teams fought back and forth until Tech eventually pulled away with a 15-13 win.

Taylor Stewart and Jessica Lea finished with 13 and 11 kills for the Mountaineers. Lea added 20 assists. Kaitlyn Duncan led EOU with 22 digs, and Leigh Anne MacCarthy finished with 14 digs. Emily Sampson finished with 18 assists and Katie Showers and Lisa Steinbach each had four blocks.

“The girls started off slow but played their hearts out at the end,” Eastern Oregon head coach Hailey Pearce said. “We finally started to get some blocks. It was a battle and Tech is a great team. I am proud of their effort.”

Eastern went onto to sweep the Bulldogs in the final match of the tournament, 25-19, 25-22, and 25-16. Irene Walters led the Mountaineers with 11 kills and Lea added nine kills. Duncan and Lea finished with 20 and 14 digs. Sampson and Lea had 17 and 16 assists, and Steinbach and Showers each had three blocks.

“The girls ended the tournament strong,” Pearce said. “They executed their plays and played great defense. We saw a lot of improvement from yesterday to today and are excited to get back to practice this coming week.”

Eastern will have Sunday off before hosting Walla Walla University Monday at 7 p.m. in Quinn Coliseum in the final match before the conference schedule begins.