SIOUX CITY, Iowa - Eastern Oregon University took their first win of final site play in the NAIA Tournament this morning. The Mountaineers took on the Saint Xavier Cougars and started off hot, but had to claw their way to a fourth set victory to take the match, 25-16, 25-14, 24-26, 25-22.
 
EOU ran away with the first two sets with their dominant defense at the net choking the Cougar attack. A big part of that success came in Eastern's ability to shut down the Cougars' number one weapon, Molly Hackett, who was held to just three kills. The Mounties held St. Xavier to -.044 and -.094 hitting in the first and second sets. It looked like the Mountaineers were on their way to a sweep, outscoring the Cougars by 20 in the first two sets never giving up a lead.
 
The third and fourth sets were a different story. St. Xavier was ready to play in a third set that saw the lead exchange four times with the biggest swing coming at the very end of the set. It was a back and forth affair until the end of the set when Eastern had the Cougars on the ropes just a point away from clinching the sweep with the score at 24-21 after an Ashton Haughton kill. St. Xavier responded with four straight points finished off by a Chloe Memenga kill to avoid the sweep with a 26-24 third set victory.
 
With momentum on their side the Cougars took an early 4-3 lead and held on to it all the way to their 21st point. It wasn't looking good for the Mounties as St. Xavier's lead got all the way up to six at several points. A late surge from the Mounties put them back in the game and on top as they outscored the Cougars 11-2 to end the set and clinch the match with a 25-22 set win.
 
Eastern Oregon gets a day off on Thursday prior to their final pool play match Friday morning. The Mounties will take on No. 20 Cornerstone at 10 a.m. CST in the Tyson Event Center. With a win Eastern will reserve their spot in the quarterfinals on Saturday.
 
BY THE NUMBERS:

• The Mountaineers added on to their NAIA leading block total cracking double digits again with 13
• Eastern had a big advantage at the service line with 6 service aces to St. Xavier's 1
• The Cougars' back line was busy putting up 70 digs to the Mountaineers 57

 
STANDOUT PERFORMANCES:

• EOU
  • Madison Morgan: 11 kills, .321 hitting percentage, 1 block, 5 digs
  • Cambree Scott: 8 kills, .227 hitting percentage, 8 blocks, 2 digs
  • Alexis McMurtrey: 22 assists, 16 digs, 2 service aces
• St. Xavier
  • Courtney Hunter: 12 kills, .233 hitting percentage, 1 block, 3 digs
  • Kaleigh Ritter: 38 assists, 10 digs

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