LA GRANDE, Ore. - No. 13 Mountaineers Volleyball picked up its first five-set win of the season Friday night with a hard fought 3-2 victory over the Evergreen State College Geoducks (21-25, 25-9, 25-16, 20-25, 15-6). With the win, Eastern Oregon improves to 14-4 overall and 9-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play.

How it Happened
 • It was not the prettiest win for the Mountaineers despite hitting .250 and holding the Geoducks (5-6, 5-5 CCC) to a .111 clip. Evergreen State won the battle up front in blocks, 9-5, but a 10-2 edge in service aces helped EOU secure the victory at home.
• The Geoducks took the opening frame by a score of 25-21 despite a late rally by the Mountaineers. Helping Evergreen State grab the win was a late run that created separation for the win.
• In the beginning it was a back-and-forth affair between the two squads and they were locked at a 15-all tie at the midway point of the frame. The Geoducks then went on 7-0 run late to open the score up.
• Trailing 21-15, EOU called timeout with the hope of slowing down Evergreen State. The Mountaineers fell behind 23-17 and managed to close the gap to three, 24-21, before the Geoducks won the set by four.
• The second set completely belonged to the Mountaineers who held Evergreen State to just nine points en route to a 25-9 win. EOU hit .336 in the win and held the Geoducks to a negative hitting percentage of -.121.
• Eastern raced out to a 13-1 lead in the and established control from the onset of the frame. The Mounties jumped ahead 5-0 before the Geoducks even managed to get a point on the board. 
• Evergreen State used its first timeout when they trailed 9-1 but it made little difference as the EOU lead grew to 15-2 and forced another Geoducks timeout. The closest Evergreen State got was 10 at 18-8 before succumbing to the 25-9 defeat.
• The third set was once again controlled by the Mountaineers who cruised to the 25-16 win. The Geoducks fared a bit better on offense in the frame, but momentum from the second set was the difference for EOU.
• The set was tied at 5-5 early on but a quick 4-0 surge by the Mountaineers gave them a 9-5 lead and they never surrendered it. At the midway point, EOU pushed its lead to six, 16-10, to force a Geoducks timeout.
• Evergreen State looked to make one final push but never established a rhythm. The Mountaineers jumped ahead 17-10 out of the timeout and surrendered just six more points before taking the set and going ahead 2-1.
• Evergreen State responded in the fourth set winning 25-20 to force a fifth set. The Geoducks managed to grab a lead early on and responded each time the Mountaineers came close to tying the set.
• EOU led 5-4 early on in the frame before an 8-1 run by the Geoducks gave them a 12-6 lead and they never looked back from there. The surge was the difference as EOU never got any closer than three points the rest of the set.
• The Mountaineers managed to close the gap at the midway point of the fourth to three points, 15-12, before the Geoducks responded once more. The two teams traded points but the Mounties never managed to tie the set before falling by five.
• In the fifth and final frame it was an early scoring run by EOU that helped the team secure their first five-set win of the year. Evergreen State led 3-2 before five unanswered points by the Mountaineers made it a 7-3 contest. 
• The Geoducks were unable to respond to the 5-0 run by Eastern and mustered just three more points the rest of the frame. Back-to-back kills from Sade Williams ended the set and gave the Mountaineers the 15-6 victory.

Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Breanna Shaffer led the way with a double-double tallying a match-high 15 kills to go along with 12 digs.
• Sade Williams added 13 kills to go along with a match best three services aces in the win.
• Preslee Jensen also had double-digit kills with 12 and hit .321 on the night.
• Cambree Scott rounded out the double figure kills for EOu with 10 and added three blocks.
• Alexis McMurtrey added 29 assists to lead EOU and had 14 digs for a doubled-double.
• Hannah Ledgerwood also had double figure assists with 19 and added nine digs.
• Hailey Arritola notched a double-double as well with 11 assists and match best 33 digs.

For the Geoducks
• Lily Stewart paced the Evergreen State offense with 12 kills and had three blocks.
• Zoe Shaw and Taylor Parks both chipped in seven kills in the loss.
• Sierra Wolff led all players with 33 assists and had 11 digs for a double-double.
• Hannah Rongen led the front row defense with a match high seven blocks.
• Sage Burgmeier led the back row with 21 digs in the loss.

By the Numbers
1 - Tonight's double-double by Hailey Arritola is the first of her career.
1- This is the first five-set win of the year for EOU who was 0-2 prior to Friday's victory.
2 - Cambree Scott is just two blocks away from reaching 450 for her career. 
8 - The Mountaineers have now won their last eight matches.
23 - EOU has now won each of its last 23 match-ups against Evergreen State.

Up Next
• The Mountaineers will be back in action inside Quinn Coliseum tomorrow night, Saturday, Oct. 2 against Northwest University. First serve against the Eagles is set for 5 p.m. PT.

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