Box Score PORTLAND, Ore. – The NAIA Match of the Week lived up to the hype this week as No. 11 Eastern Oregon University defeated No. 19 Concordia University, 3-2 (25-23, 19-25, 28-26, 20-25, 16-14), on Saturday night. EOU had three players recorded double-digit nights in kills.
Casey Loper led the way with a game-high 19 kills, while teammates
Stefani Sorensen and
Taylor Stewart followed with 18 kills apiece. The win is the 13th straight for EOU and the Mountaineers improve to 19-2 on the season.
"I am so proud of the girls for playing tough, resilient and fearless tonight against a great Concordia team," said head coach Kaki Morehead. "They have worked so hard the first half of conference and they know that the second half will be even tougher. Taylor Steward played outstanding for us tonight and was everywhere considering she was injured earlier this week. That kidn of great play and fearlessness will help us get to where we need to be."
EOU took the early lead in set one as they Mountaineers jumped out to a 6-2 lead after a Karly stack kill. Eastern Oregon continued to leading, leading by as many as four, 15-11; however Concordia (14-4, 7-2 CCC) battled back to tie the match at 15.
The set stayed close the rest of the way. EOU again built its lead to four, 21-17, after a kill by Stewart. However, the Cavaliers continued to battle back and cut the Eastern Oregon lead to one, 24-23. The Mountaineers claimed set one, 25-23, after a Sorensen kill.
In set two, the Mountaineers raced out to a, 3-0, lead and forced the Cavaliers to call a timeout. EOU continued to build its lead and stretched it to 7-3 after a Concordia attack error. Concordia still continued to battle as they started another comeback.
The rest of the set was a tight set with both teams treading leads. With the score tied at 18, Concordia pulled away after a kill by Mariah Raudsepp. EOU did not have an answer and dropped the second set, 25-19, tying the game at one set apiece.
Set three was a back and forth set as both teams would not let either team get a lead. EOU held an early, 9-5, lead but the lead did not last long. Concordia battled back and tied the match at 15 after a kill by Brenna Huewe.
With the match tied at 15, neither team held a lead greater than one point until EOU took the set 28-26. An attack error by Cavaliers Amanda Goringe gave EOU the set, and Eastern Oregon a 2-1 set lead over Concordia.
The two teams were locked in a back and forth battle in set four , as the set saw three lead changes early. After the third tie at, 6-6, Concordia started to pull away and built a four point lead, 10-6.
The Cavaliers continued to add to the lead and did not trail again in the set. Concordia extended its lead to as many as five, 18-13. EOU tried to make a comeback but it was not enough as the Cavaliers took set four, 25-20, to force a fifth and final set.
The fifth set was only separated by two points at two different times during the set. With EOU ahead, 10-8, the Cavaliers mounted a comeback and took an 11-10 lead. However EOU continued to battle and tied the match at 11. Concordia had the first match point at 14-13 but Loper kept the Mountaineers in the set by tying the score at 14. EOU scored the next two points to claim the set. Loper closed the game with her 19th kill of the night.
EOU returns to action next weekend when they travel Washington to face The Evergreen State College Geoducks on Oct. 11 and Northwest on Saturday. Both matches start at 7 p.m..
