CALDWELL, Idaho – No. 9 Eastern Oregon University Women's Volleyball played in its first non-conference contest of the 2021 spring season Saturday afternoon in a showdown with longtime foe College of Idaho. The Mountaineers swept the Yotes 3-0 (25-23, 25-18, 25-13) to improve to 5-0 on the year.
 
How it Happened
• The Mountaineers controlled nearly every statistical category of the game en route to the sweep of the Yotes (2-3). C of I had the advantage in just blocks at 10-6. EOU led the way in kills (45-26), aces (5-1), assists (44-26), and digs (58-52) to down the Yotes on their home floor in three.
• Another big help to EOU's win was hitting percentage in the second and third set, respectively. EOU hit just .180 on the day and was at just .059 in the opening frame. Marks of .263 and .256 in the second and third though propelled the offense to its third 3-0 sweep of the year.
• Defensively, the Mountaineers held C of I to a measly .061 hitting percentage for the match. EOU posted double figure kills in each set and limited the Yotes to single digit kills in the first and third set. EOU also never let C of I hit over. 200 in any of the three sets and held them under. 100 in two of the three.
• The opening set was the closest in terms of the score differential as EOU held on for a 25-23 set win. Both teams struggled to hit the ball. EOU had 14 kills and held C of I to just eight, but committed 11 attack errors. C of I had just six in the first set.
• Despite the close score, EOU led wire-to-wire in the first and jumped out to an early 5-1 lead to force a C of I timeout. Two of the five points for the Mounties came on the wing of Madison Morgan who paced the offense for the afternoon. C of I chipped away at the lead but never managed to get within one after getting down early.
• The yotes managed to get within two out of the timeout at 806, but a 4-0 scoring surge by EOU pushed the lead back to six and forced another C of I timeout. Both teams came out of the short breather trading points the rest of the set, but EOU held on for the win to go up 1-0. Sade Williams and Breanna Shaffer paced the offense for Eastern with four kills apiece.
• The start of the second set saw more fight out of the Yotes in the early going. The two teams traded points and were knotted at 6-6 tie to start. C of I then grabbed its only lead of the afternoon on an EOU attack error to go up 7-6. The Mounties responded in the next possession with a double block from Cambree Scott and Preslee Jensen to tie the set back at 7-all.
• Following the set tying block, EOU put together a 5-0 run to retake the lead at 12-7. C of I called a timeout when it got to 10-7, but it did not slow the Mounties down. The Yotes got within two at the midway point of the set at 15-13 and again at 18-16, but mustered just two points after that.
• With a 18-16 edge, EOU closed out the second set with a 7-2 run to put away the Yotes 25-18 and go up 2-0. Pacing the offense was Morgan who had five kills in the second set. She had help with Scott and Shaffer chipping in three kills, respectively.
• Set No. 3 got off to a roaring start for the Mountaineers who easily dismantled the Yotes 25-13. EOU scored the first six points of the set and by the time the team eclipsed 10 points, C of I had just three. The 6-0 run to start and a 9-0 run in the middle part of the set were key for EOU in picking up the sweep.
• The combined runs by EOU, coupled with solid defense gave the Mounties a commanding 18-3 lead. The Yotes were able to outscore the Mountaineers from that point on at 10-7, but seven points is all EOU needed to walk away the victors.
• Morgan continued her strong play from the second set and racked up five kills for the second straight set. Williams was right behind her with four. Jensen added three kills to help balance the attack for the Mountaineers.
 
Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Madison Morgan paced the offense with 12 kills and a match high .522 hitting percentage.
• Sade Williams racked up 11 kills and hit .333. She also chipped in seven digs to help the defense.
• Madison Pilon totaled 28 assists for the match. She dished out kills to six different players.
• Kiley McMurtrey led the way in digs yet again with 21. She also had two assists and two service aces.
• Jet Taylor led the front row with four blocks and added three digs. Preslee Jensen was right behind Taylor with three blocks.
• Off the bench, Alexis McMurtrey tallied 12 assists and had three digs.
 
For the Yotes
• Jade Warren had a team best eight kills to lead C of I on offense. She also added four blocks.
• Cameron Wallace led all players with five blocks. She added five kills on offense.
• Mergie Beeler had the most assists with 13, while Abigail Guinn added 11.
• Ali Carpenter had 17 digs to lead C of I, while Chloe Knudson had 13.
 
By the Numbers
298 – With the win, Head Coach Kaki McLean Morehead has 298 career wins at EOU and is two shy of 300.
64 – Madison Pilon has now tallied double-digit assists in 64 consecutive matches.
63 – Kiley McMurtrey has racked up double figure digs in 63 straight matches following Saturday's performance.
12 – The Mountaineers have now won 12 straight sets against the Yotes and are winners in each of the last four matchups, all of which have been sweeps.
9 – Kiley McMurtrey now has 1,848 career digs in an EOU uniform and needs just nine more to become the all-time career leader in program history.
.098 – Following Saturday's win, EOU's defense is holding opposing teams to under a .100 hitting percentage at .098.
 
Up Next
• Eastern Oregon will one again be back in Caldwell next weekend, March 5-6, for the second pod series of Cascade Collegiate Conference play. This time EOU will face Warner Pacific (Ore.) and Bushnell.
• The Mountaineers face the WPU Knights on Friday, March 5 and the Bushnell Beacons on Saturday, March 6. Game times both days are set for 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. PT, respectively.

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