COLUMBIA, Mo.- Eastern Oregon Volleyball followed up their impressive performance at the Big Sky Challenge with an equally impressive showing at the Hampton Inn Classic on Aug. 26 and 27 in Columbia and Fayette, Mo. The Mounties went 4-0 in the tournament sweeping Central Methodist and William Woods in three sets each on day two of the tournament.

Wins against No. 25 Ottawa, No. 20 Columbia, and No. 14 Central Methodist put the Mounties at five-straight wins against top 25 ranked teams to start out the season. After dropping the first match of the year, EOU has won seven straight. 

"It was a great weekend in Missouri for us to continue to grow and get better," Coach Kaki McLean Morehead said. "There are some things we still need to clean up and get better at, but we feel great about the start that we have had and the high level of competition we have seen."

A 4-0 showing at the Hampton Inn Classic marks the end of early-season non-conference matchups for the Mountaineers. EOU will start conference play on Friday, Sept. 2 at No. 7 Corban. The match is set to start at 7 p.m. in Salem, Ore.

GAME 1

Eastern Oregon started day two of the Hampton Inn Classic with another winning performance on Saturday morning. The Mounties put together their best performance of the tournament to that point beating No. 14 Central Methodist University in a clean three sets, 25-21, 28-26, 25-20.

EOU's ability to finish sets strong showed once again as they went on a 6-2 run to close the first set. The Mounties followed that up with a tight second set that came down to a four-point rally at the very end to put EOU up 2-0 in the match. In the third and final set Eastern put their foot on the gas and didn't let up, never trailing and securing the win with a 25-20 set victory. 

The difference maker in the top 25 matchup was efficiency. The two teams had nearly identical attack numbers, Eastern with 157 total attacks and Central Methodist with 156. EOU converted at a much higher rate hitting .217 with 53 kills compared to Central Methodist's .090 and 35 kills.

Cambree Scott, EOU's returning All-American, led the charge with 14 kills offensively and contributed just as much on the defensive side with four total blocks. Sade Williams and Kara Clayton followed Scott's lead with nine kills each. Williams also added four blocks on the defensive side. 

GAME 2

The Mountaineers didn't have long to rest, jumping into their next match against William Woods following their victory over Central Methodist. Momentum followed EOU into the second match of the day as they posted another sweep beating William Woods in three sets, 25-13, 25-20, 25-22.

For the second time in the tournament, Eastern won the battle in all major statistical categories. The Mounties bested the Owls in points, kills, aces, blocks, assists, and digs. The biggest advantages came offensively in kills and assists. EOU lead William Woods by 11 and 12 in those two categories respectively. 

Madison Morgan added onto her already impressive tournament performance with another 10 kills at a .333 clip. Hannah Ledgerwood and Alexis McMurtrey chipped in with big games facilitating totaling 31 assists between the two. Defensively, Cambree Scott had another big game with six blocks and four digs. McMurtrey lead the way in digs with 13. Read Full Article