SPOKANE, Wash. – On the first day of the Cascade/Frontier Red Lion Challenge, No. 21 Eastern Oregon University came away with a 3-2 (26-24, 20-25, 25-21, 23-25, 15-9) victory over Montana Tech and concluded the day with a 3-1 (25-23, 20-25, 25-17, 25-20) victory over Montana State – Northern.

Taylor Stewart led the way for the Mountaineers has she recorded 35 kills. Bobbi Sumpter dished out 73 assists.

"It was nice to get on the court today and get those jitters out," said head coach Kaki Morehead. "I am proud of how the girls preformed and consistently fought for the lead in the game. The next two days will be tough, we will learn a lot and be a better team at the end."

Against Montana Tech the Mountaineers were locked in a back and forth battle from the start of the match to the end. In set one, EOU gained the biggest lead of the set after a Stefani Sorensen kill put EOU up 19-16. However, that lead did not last long as the Orediggers scored the next four points of the set. With the match tied at 24, Casey Loper recorded a kill and Montana Tech's Sydney Norris recorded an attack error and EOU claimed set one, 26-24.

Both teams continued to battle in the second set and EOU found themselves down early but battled back to tie the match at eight. The set did not remain tied for long as Montana Tech went on a 7-2 run to extend its lead to 15-10. The Orediggers continued to extend its lead and to 24-14. EOU made a late run but it was not enough and the Mountaineers fell, 25-20.

Montana Tech raced out to an 11-6 lead over EOU to start set three. Eastern Oregon answered right back on a run of its own as EOU notched the next eight points, giving the Mountaineers a 15-11 lead. After taking the lead EOU did not look back and took the third set 25-21 giving them a 2-1 lead.

Neither team wanted to take the lead in the fourth set as the biggest lead of the set was three points. EOU held a 23-21 lead but could not put the set away and Montana Tech took set four 25-23, tying the match at 2-2.

Neither EOU nor Montana Tech wanted to take the lead early in set five as the set raced out to a 9-9 tie. The Mountaineers ran off the next six points to take the set, 15-9,  and the match from Montana Tech, 3-2. 

Stewart led EOU with 18 kills, Loper and Sorensen followed with 17 and 16 respectfully. Sumpter collected 40 assists in the match.

EOU found themselves down early to Montana State – Northern but continued to battle back. After finding themselves down 7-3, the Mountaineers tied the match at 11 after Montana State –Northern player Erin Jensen committed an attack error. EOU found themselves down 20-15 but scored the next five points to tie the set. With the set tied at 21, Montana State – Northern committed an attack error to give EOU the lead and EOU took the first set 25-23.

The Lights controlled set two as they raced out to a 10-4 lead and never looked back. The Mountaineers dropped set two, 25-20.

The third set Eastern Oregon was the team racing out to the big lead as EOU took an 8-3 lead. Eastern Oregon extended its lead to 12 points, 24-12 in the third set. Montana State – Northern tried to claw its way back into the match but Katie Keeney won the third set, 25-17, putting EOU up 2-1.

The teams continued to trade leads in the fourth set, until it was tied at 14. With the set tied EOU took control by scoring the next four points. Montana State – Northern never got closer than two points the rest of the way. EOU came away with a 25-20 set win and a 3-1 match victory to improve to 2-0 on the season.

Stewart led the way against Montana State – Northern as she notched 17 kills followed by Loper with 14. Sumpter recorded 33 assists while Jessalynn Smith had 24 digs.

The Mountaineers return to action for two more matches tomorrow in the Cascade/Frontier Red Lion Challenge in Spokane, Wash. EOU will face Montana Western at 10 a.m. and Rocky Mountain at 6 p.m.