Box Score



OLYMPIA, Wash. – The Eastern Oregon University volleyball team opened Cascade Collegiate Conference play with a sweep at The Evergreen State College Friday.

The Mountaineers (7-2, 1-0 CCC) bounced back from their loss to No. 21 Carroll which ended their six-match win streak at the Red Lion Challenge. EOU is 12-0 under Kaki Morehead against the Geoducks, winning 40 straight sets over the Geoducks, dating back to Oct. 14, 2005. Eastern Oregon has won 20 of the last 24 meetings against TESC.

“I thought we played very well as a team tonight,” Morehead said. “Evergreen is a team that is getting better each time we play them, and they started out very strong tonight.”

Eastern Oregon was led by a match-high 10 kills from Katie Keeney. Jessica Perron finished with 26 assists, while Alisha Crane had her hands in four blocks. EOU outblocked the Geoducks six to four in the match.

In the first set, Eastern Oregon and Evergreen kept it close as the Mountaineers only led by a pair midway through the set. EOU eventually pulled out ahead, using a 7-1 run to collect the 25-18 set one victory. The Mountaineers hit .367 in the first frame, connecting for 14 kills and three errors on 30 attacks. On the other side of the net, the Geoducks had their top hitting set of the match, putting down 12 kills with eight errors on 35 attacks for a clip of .114.

A run of nine straight points gave Eastern Oregon the early advantage in set two as the Geoducks couldn't come back, allowing the Mountaineers to take a two-set lead with a 25-13 win. EOU hit .429 on the frame with 15 kills and three errors on 28 attacks. The Geoducks were in the negative, hitting -.036 with seven kills and eight errors on 28 total swings.

Another nine-point run put the Mountaineers in control of set three as the Geoducks had another poor-hitting frame. Evergreen hit just -.061 in the final set, putting down six kills with eight errors on 33 attacks. On the other side, EOU hit just .156 but their 11 kills and six errors on 32 attacks was enough to collect the 25-15 win and the match, three sets to none.

Evergreen (0-6, 0-1 CCC) was led by seven kills from Brittany Covert. Merideth Gurr led all players with 13 digs on the night while Sasha Nash led the Geoducks with nine assists on the match.

The Mountaineers travel to Kirkland, Wash., and face Northwest University Saturday at 7 p.m. The Eagles fell at home to The College of Idaho in four sets Friday.

“Northwest is a good team,” Morehead said. “We had a chance to watch them last weekend in Spokane, and they beat Carroll in five sets, when we could not. It should be a good match.”