BUTTE, Mont. – No. 6 Eastern Oregon University Volleyball got the 2021 season started Friday afternoon as the team played a pair of contests on day one of the Big Sky Challenge. The Mountaineers were shorthanded on the day, but still walked away with a split against a pair of top-25 teams to start the year 1-1.
 
Match 1 – No. 6 Eastern Oregon 3, No. 8 Grand View 0 (27-25, 25-17, 25-20)
How it Happened
• The first set was a thriller that needed extra points, but nonetheless EOU held off No. 8 Grand View (0-1), 27-25, to go ahead 1-0. Eastern hit just .143 for the set, but limited the Vikings to .048. A 13-10 edge in kills was key in the opening set victory.
• The Mountaineers stormed out to an 8-3 edge before the Vikings pieced together a 5-1 run to get within one point, 9-8. Despite their best efforts, the Vikings never managed to tie the set until late to force extra points.
• Leading 16-15, EOU managed to create a small gap with four unanswered points. Sade Williams was key for the Mounties in the quick surge with two kills and a block assist to make it a 20-15 lead. Grand View was able to tie the set at 22-all.
• The Vikings managed to keep the opening frame tied up to 25-25 before the Mountaineers were able to escape with the win. A service error followed by an attack error by Grand View ended the set to allow EOU to go up 1-0.
• Eastern matched its rhythm in the beginning of set No. 2 and raced out to a five-point lead, 7-2, before the Vikings were able to get in sync. A kill from Ashton Haughton got the set started for the Mountaineers and Cambree Scott opened up the early lead with three blocks and a kill.
• The early surge proved helpful for EOU as Grand View never managed to get any closer than two points the rest of the set. The Vikings answered early on making it a 7-5 contest before 6-1 run by the Mountaineers opened the score up to 13-6.
• Grand View made one last push in the midway point of the set and got within a pair at 16-14 but the Mountaineers' defense shut down any hopes of a comeback. A 5-0 run by EOU made it 21-14 and the Vikings mustered just three points the rest of the set to fall 25-17.
• Set No. 3 was a bit closer in spurts and for the Vikings, they managed to grab their only lead of the day in the third frame. Trailing 7-5, they ripped off three-straight points to go ahead 8-7 on the Mountaineers. The lead was short lived as Eastern went on an 8-2 run and jumped ahead by five, 15-10.
• Leading the surge for the Mountaineers through the midway point third set was Breanna Shaffer who tallied five kills and had one block to help establish the offense. The Mountaineers eventually grabbed their largest lead of the day at 19-11 before the Vikings made one final push.
• Leading 21-15, EOU nearly let its lead slip away, surrendering four straight points to allow Grand View to get within two, 21-19. Following a quick timeout, the Mountaineers got back in sync and closed the door on another potential comeback to win 25-20.
 
Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Breanna Shaffer led all players with a match-high nine kills. She also tallied seven digs and had one block.
• Sade Williams posted nine kills to go along with three assists. She also had four blocks and nine digs in the win.
• Cambree Scott had seven kills and totaled eight blocks.
• Alexis McMurtrey dished out a match best 27 assists in the win and posted a double-double with 16 digs as well.
 
For the Vikings
• Jenna Wagemaster led the way with seven kills and hit .300 in the loss.
• Alexa Aldrich-Ingram had six kills and posted two blocks.
• Lauren Bair also had six kills in the loss and had eight digs.
• Bailey Sullivan had 25 assists and 10 digs for a double-double.
• Miranda Greathouse led the back row with 22 digs.
 
Match 2 – #17 Bellevue 3, #6 Eastern Oregon 0 (15-25, 17-25, 23-25)
How It Happened
• Helping the Bruins take the opening frame was an 8-1 run early on that opened up their lead to 12-5. Eastern battled back to get within four at the midway point of the first, 15-11, but never recovered from the run.
• Stout hitting by Bellevue coupled with clean defense allowed them to hit .275 in the first set and hold a 15-10 edge in kills. After getting within four, the Mountaineers mustered just four points the rest of the frame before going down 25-15 to trail 1-0 overall.
• The start of the second set was close once again as the Mountaineers were able jump ahead 5-4. A kill from Cambree Scott got EOU in front by one, but Bellevue tied it back up quickly at 5-all on the next rally. The Bruins then surged ahead 9-5 before EOU got a point on the board.
• The Bruins never allowed the Mountaineers to tie to take the lead the rest of the second frame. EOU's closest opportunity came when a kill by Jet Taylor made it a 12-10 score. From that point on, Bellevue seized control.
• EOU was only able to score seven points the rest of the set before falling 25-17. Helping the Bruins was a 5-0 run that made it a 17-10 contest. The surge was the difference maker late in helping Bellevue go up 2-0 on the Mountaineers.
• The Mountaineers battled late in the third set to nearly force a fourth set, but the Bruins held them off late to secure the sweep and remain undefeated. Early on, the Bruins jumped ahead 6-2 before EOU managed to get back within one at 6-5.
• A 6-0 run by Bellevue gave them some breathing room and they managed to stay in front of the Mountaineers by 5-6 points through the majority of the third set. The Bruins held an 18-13 lead that forced an EOU timeout, but out of the short break the Mounties found a rhythm.
• A quick 4-1 surge by Eastern cut the score to 19-18 before Bellevue was able to respond by scoring three unanswered to make it a 22-18 contest. EOU looked to make one last push against the Bruins but came just short in a 25-23 loss.
 
Mountaineers Stat Leaders
• Sade Williams paced the offense once again with eight kills on the afternoon. She was two digs shy of a double-double with eight as well and hit .208 for the match.
• Cambree Scott also tallied eight kills in the loss and had one block.
• Jet Taylor chipped in six kills for EOU and posted three blocks.
• Alexis McMurtrey dished out 26 assists and tallied 14 digs for her second straight double-double performance.
 
For the Bruins
• Eve Fountain paced Bellevue with a match high 13 kills and 12 digs for a double-double. She hit .290 in the win.
• Haley Fleischman had nine kills on 12 attempts for a match best .750 hitting percentage.
• Olivia Galas tallied 31 assists in the win to lead all players.
• Taylan Keefer racked up 17 digs to lead the back row defense for the Bruins.
 
By the Numbers
3 – The Mountaineers had a sweep and were swept in three sets on day one.
53 – Alexis McMurtrey dished out 53 total assists in her first two career starts and her 27 in match one is a new career high.
9 – The Mountaineers managed to go 1-1 on the first day of the Big Sky Challenge with just nine players.
3 – Eastern is now 3-0 all-time against Grand View after the win on Friday.
 
Up Next
• Eastern Oregon will take on two more opponents on day two of the Big Sky Challenge tomorrow. The Mountaineers will square off with Rocky Mountain College at 10 a.m. PT before closing out the tournament against No. 16 Providence at 2 p.m. PT.

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