Box Score BOX SCORE
CALDWELL, Idaho – The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team swept No. 8 Lewis-Clark State in Match 3 of The College of Idaho Classic Friday.
The Mountaineers (1-1) rebounded from a four-set loss to No. 10 Vanguard in the first match of the season earlier Friday. In this meeting with a top-10 opponent, it was EOU that controlled the match.
The victory was the first in the last 15 tries against a top 10-ranked team for the Mountaineers in the last 10 years. EOU has also now won only four of its 46 games versus a top 25-ranked opponent over the past 10 seasons. Eastern Oregon went 0-5 a year ago with top 10-ranked teams, forcing two of the matches to five sets.
Eastern used very balanced team effort to pull off the stunning win.
Casey Loper had a team-high 10 kills.
Jessica Perron and
Bobbi Sumpter combined for 29 assists.
Kaitlyn Duncan finished with a match-high 15 digs, while
Rebecca Haight and
Taylor Stewart both had 11 digs. Haight had three of Eastern Oregon's eight service aces.
As a team, the Mountaineers had a .183 attack percentage. EOU never dropped below 60 percent in any of the three sets. Eastern had a 35-27 kill advantage, a 33-26 assist advantage, and a 13-7 block edge. LCSC finished with 60 digs, while Eastern Oregon had 54.
“We finally played some Mountaineer volleyball against LCSC and controlled the consistency of the game,” EOU head coach Kaki Morehead said. “Our middles, Casey and Alisha, are doing a great job of controlling our offense.”
The match featured 12 ties and seven lead changes, but none of those came in the opening set as Eastern jumped out to a 7-1 advantage and never surrendered the lead. A Warrior attack error gave EOU its largest lead of the set, 18-11. The Mountaineers won set one, 25-19.
In set two, the score was tied five times before a 10-10 score changed to a 16-10 Eastern Oregon lead after a decisive Mountaineer run behind strong serving from Haight. The margin would stretch to seven, including the final set score of 25-18.
The third and final set was the closest of the match with six ties and five lead changes. LCSC got out to a 3-0 advantage, its largest lead of the match, and EOU's lead was no larger than the final margin of 25-20.
Willow Markowitz led the Warriors (0-1) with 10 kills, and Nevena Dragovic had 19 assists. Kaylee Rector and Chelsea Shears finished with 12 and 10 digs. LCSC had a .045 attack percentage.
The Mountaineers face William Jessup (Calif.) (0-1) Saturday at 12 p.m. Pacific Time. WJU fell to the hosts, The College of Idaho, in the second match of the classic, 3-0. C of I led No. 10 Vanguard, 2-0, at the time of this release in the fourth match of the classic. Live video and stats from the tournament are available on EOUSports.com.
