HELENA, Mont. – The No. 6 Eastern Oregon University volleyball team proved it could pull off close matches and take care of business in straight sets, all in the span of one day. On day one of the Big Sky Challenge, the Mountaineers rallied in a five-set thriller (25-19, 23-25, 19-25, 25-15, 15-13) against (RV) Carroll College before breezing past Great Falls in straight sets (25-15, 25-23, 25-21).

"We had two tough matches today, and after not responding to the best of our ability this morning, we did much better this afternoon," said head volleyball coach Kaki McLean Morehead. "Offense and defense did a great job of setting pace in the match. We have a tough day again tomorrow and are looking forward to it."

Match One – No. 6 EOU def. (RV) Carroll College, 3-2 (25-19, 23-25, 19-25, 25-15, 15-13)

EOU rebounded from a 2-1 set deficit and hit .389 in the final two stanzas combined to rally past Carroll, 3-2.

Sophomore middle hitter Emily Nay registered a career-high 18 kills, while sophomore middle hitter Amanda Miller and senior outside hitter Kendra De Hoog tallied 13 and 10 kills, respectively.

With 57 assists and 13 digs, junior setter Rachelle Chamberlain booked her 11th double-double of her EOU career, while senior defensive specialist Piper Cantrell collected a career-high 32 digs for the Mountaineers.

In the first frame, EOU jumped to an early 11-6 lead following a kill by junior middle hitter Kasaundra Tuma. The Mountaineers booked three-straight points to notch their greatest lead of the set (22-14), but the Saints responded with three of their own to pull to within five (22-17). Kills by Miller and sophomore right side hitter Isabelle Statkus lifted EOU to set point (24-19), and then Carroll coughed up a service error to concede the stanza.

Set two saw EOU fend off a pair of set points for Carroll to pull within one (24-23) after Chamberlain found junior outside hitter Sierra Linke for the kill and then the Saints committed an attack error. But Carroll's Page Montgomery came up with the final kill of the stanza to hand EOU its first dropped set (25-23) of the 2015 season.

In the third set, Carroll took advantage of four early EOU miscues to gain a 14-6 advantage. Back-to-back kills by Nay pulled EOU to within four (14-10), but that's as close as the Mountaineers would get, as the Saints took the third set, 25-19.

With their backs against the ball, the Mountaineers got to business in the fourth frame. Leading 14-9, EOU utilized a 9-2 run capped by a Miller kill to break away. Consecutive errors by the Saints lifted the Mountaineers to set point (24-14), and following a Carroll kill, Nay came up with another big swing to deliver EOU the set, 25-15.

Carroll scored four of the first five points in the fifth set to take an early 4-1 lead. EOU bounced right back with a 6-2 run to gain a one-point (7-6) advantage, but Carroll snagged the lead right back (10-9) following a kill by Kylie Dirham. With the set tied at 12 apiece, both Nay and Miller swung in for kills to lift EOU to match point (14-12), and then Chamberlain found Miller for the kill to seal the come-from-behind triumph.  

The Mountaineers outhit the Saints, .290 to .251. Both teams had 66 kills and 60 blocks apiece, while EOU notched seven service aces compared to four by Carroll.

Match Two – No. 6 EOU def. Great Falls, 3-0 (25-15, 25-23, 25-21)

Although EOU's second contest of the day didn't match the length of match one, it certainly didn't lack drama, as the Mountaineers hit its best attack percentage (.360) of the season en route to defeating Great Falls in straight sets.

EOU recorded 52 kills, including a 20-kill third set to keep Great Falls at bay.

The Mountaineers saw three players reach double-figure kills, as Miller (14), Nay (11), and Tuma (10) continued their solid starts to the Big Sky Challenge.

Chamberlain logged 46 assists for EOU, while junior defensive specialist Sara Pulaski paced the team's defensive effort with 18 digs.

EOU (4-0) returns to the hardwood in Helena, Mont., tomorrow morning for a showdown with No. 5 Rocky Mountain College at 9 a.m. MT. The match is the first NAIA Volleyball Match of the Week. Live video for the match can be found here.