LA GRANDE, Ore. – Eighth-ranked Eastern Oregon University Volleyball capped off its home opening weekend a perfect 2-0 as the Mountaineers handled the College of Idaho Coyotes in straight sets (25-14, 25-17, 25-12) Saturday night inside Quinn Coliseum. With the win, EOU now sits at 11-0 overall and 10-0 in conference play.
 
How it Happened
• The Mountaineers took care of business in the second matchup of the weekend against Yotes (4-7, 4-6 CCC) after going to five sets the night before. EOU hit the ball a lot better on Saturday with a .285 mark and held the Yotes to just .135 for the three sets.
• A big help in the Mountaineers win was service aces as they tallied 10 for the night and surrendered just one to the Yotes. Both teams totaled four total blocks each, but just nine attack errors by EOU compared to 17 by C of I helped the Mounties hold more efficiency on offense.
• The opening frame started off close as the two teams traded points to possibly mimic what had happened the night before. Tied at 8-all, Eastern went on a 6-1 run that helped the team get out to a 14-9 lead. A kill from Breanna Shaffer capped off the run to put EOU up by five.
•  The Yotes managed to cut the Mountaineers lead to four with a kill that made it 14-10, but their offense stumbled the rest of the set and mustered just four points the rest of the way. Eastern went on to outscore C of I 11-4 for the commanding 25-12 win in the opener.
• Set No. 2 was the closest in terms of a final score as the Mountaineers went up 2-0 winning 25-17 in the second. The Yotes managed to lead 2-1 early on, but a quick 5-0 erased that and put EOU ahead 6-2. In that span Aspen Christensen accounted for two of the team's five points with a pair of service aces.
• The Mountaineers managed to push their lead to six at 13-7 near the midway point of the contest but a 4-0 run by the Yotes cut the lead to just two at 13-11. The Yotes managed to keep it close but never got within more than two points.
• Despite their best efforts, the Yotes had no answer late against the Mountaineers. It was 17-15 following a kill by C of I, but EOU then scored four straight points to go up six, 21-15. The Yotes managed just two points after that before falling 25-17.
• Set No. 3 saw EOU surrender just 12 points to the Yotes but in the beginning C of I was in control jumping out 3-0 to start the third. Eastern managed to tie the contest back up at 4-all and in that span, they scored five unanswered to take a 7-4 lead.
• The Yotes looked to respond but did not get any closer than four when they trailed 13-9. Eastern then created separation with its largest run of the night at 7-0 to go up 20-9. Shaffer was the answer for the Mounties tallying four kills in the run to lead the charge.
• The surge was the difference maker as the Yotes scored three more points before bowing out in straight sets for the second time this season to the Mountaineers. Cambree Scott put on the final touches as her kill up the middle sealed the set at 25-12 and gave EOU its eighth sweep of the season.
 
Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Breanna Shaffer led the way for EOU with 12 kills in the win. She finished the night hitting .556.
• Sade Williams chipped in nine kills on the night and hit .444 to help lead the offense.
• Madison Pilon handed out 20 assists and had four digs in the win to go along with a service ace.
• Kiley McMurtrey finished with nine digs to lead the back-row defense and had two service aces.
• Mariah Moulton had a career-high five service aces in the win.
 
For the Yotes
• Cameron Wallace tallied seven kills to lead C of I. She also had three blocks on the night.
• Austyn Mauzy chipped in six kills in the loss and had a trio of digs.
• Abigail Guinn had 12 assists and racked up five digs.
• Margie Beeler also finished with double-digit assists tallying 11.
 
By the Numbers
68 – With just nine digs on Saturday, Kiley McMurtrey's consecutive match streak of double-digit digs ends at 68.
8 – EOU has now picked up wins in straight sets in eight of its 11 wins this season.
10 – The 10 service aces by Eastern is a new match -high for the season.
2 – The Mountaineers have now had just two matches where they did not finish with double figure blocks.
6 – With the weekend sweep, EOU has now its last six matchups against the Yotes.
 
Up Next
• Eastern will hit the road next weekend for a doubleheader at Corban University on March 27 and 27. First serve times for both matches are set for 7 p.m. PT in Salem.

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