OLYMPIA, Wash.  –  Following a close start to the match, the Eastern Oregon Mountaineers put on the gas to sweep the Evergreen Geoducks, 25-18, 25-13, 25-15, in a Cascade Conference volleyball match on Friday evening at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

In the first set, Eastern Oregon (7-2, 1-0 CCC) and Evergreen (0-6, 0-1 CCC) kept it close as the Mounties only led by a pair midway through the set.  EOU eventually pulled out ahead, using a 7-1 run to collect the 25-18 set one victory.  The Mounties hit .367 in the first frame, connecting for 14 kills and three errors on 30 attacks.  On the other side of the net, the Geoducks had their top hitting set of the match, putting down 12 kills with eight errors on 35 attacks for a clip of .114.

A run of nine straight points gave Eastern Oregon the early advantage in set two as the Geoducks couldn’t come back, allowing the Mounties to take a two-set lead with a 25-13 win.  EOU hit .429 on the frame with 15 kills and three errors on 28 attacks.  The Geoducks were in the negative, hitting -.036 with seven kills and eight errors on 28 total swings.

Another nine-point run put the Mounties in control of set three as the Geoducks had another poor-hitting frame.  Evergreen hit just -.061 in the final set, putting down six kills with eight errors on 33 attacks.  On the other side, EOU hit just .156 but their 11 kills and six errors on 32 attacks was enough to collect the 25-15 win and the match, three sets to none.

Evergreen was led by seven kills from Brittany Covert (Chino Hills, Calif./Northern Michigan Univ.).  Merideth Gurr (Tacoma, Wash./Tacoma CC) led all players with 13 digs on the night while Sasha Nash (Salt Lake City, Utah/Skyline HS) led the Geoducks with nine assists on the match.

Eastern Oregon was led by a match-high 10 kills from Katie Keeney.  Jessica Perron finished with 26 assists on the match while Alisha Crane had her hands in four blocks on the night.  EOU outblocked the Geoducks six to four on the night.

Evergreen returns to the court on Saturday night when they play host to College of Idaho.  Eastern Oregon continues their road trip as well on Saturday when they travel to Kirkland, Wash. to take on Northwest.  Both matches are set to begin at 7 p.m.

Box Score

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash.  –  After nearly collecting their first win in 25 tries, the Evergreen Geoducks concluded action at the Cascade/Frontier Red Lion Challenge at the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake, Wash.

Montana Tech 3, Evergreen 2 – Box Score

For the first time since Sept. 17, 2010, the Evergreen Geoducks forced a fifth and deciding set but it was the Montana Tech Orediggers who collected the win.  Evergreen took the first set, 25-23, before the Diggers took the lead with 25-15 and 25-17 wins in sets two and three.  The Geoducks battled tough with their backs against the wall, taking set four by a final of 25-22 before Montana Tech powered ahead with a 15-7 fifth set win to take the match.

Evergreen was led by 13 kills from junior Brittany Covert (Chino Hills, Calif./Northern Michigan).  Cassidy Watkins (Tucson, Ariz./Trevecca Nazarene)  added 11 kills to go with four aces.  As a team, the Geoducks put down 41 kills for a hitting percentage of .107.

Montana Tech was led by a match-high 20 kills from Shersteen Cline.  Sydney Norris added 17 kills for the Diggers.

Montana State-Northern 3, Evergreen 0 – Box Score

After a lengthy break following the exciting five-set match, the Geoducks couldn’t keep up with the Skylights of Montana State-Northern, falling in straight sets, 25-17, 25-13, 25-18.

Evergreen was led by seven kills from senior Sonja Arrasi-Nash (Salt Lake City, Utah/Westminster).  Hapa Patcho (Waipahu, Hawai’i/Ke Kula Kaiapuni ‘O Anuenue) added 12 assists to go with 12 digs.

MSUN was led by nine kills from Kelsey Williams as neither team had a player with double-digit kills.  Shayla Bly was impressive for the Skylights, recording seven service aces with 19 assists on the match.

The Geoducks return to Olympia next week as they will open up Cascade Conference, hosting Eastern Oregon on Friday night.

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash.  –  The Evergreen Geoducks kept things competitive but dropped a pair of straight-set losses on day two of the Cascade/Frontier Red Lion Challenge at HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake, Wash.

Great Falls 3, Evergreen 0 – Box Score

In the Geoducks’ first match of the day, Evergreen put together two solid sets against the Argos, sandwiched around a frame that the green and white would rather soon forget, falling in straight sets, 25-12, 25-6, 25-16.

Junior Cassidy Watkins (Tucson, Ariz./Trevecca Nazarene) paced the Geoducks with seven kills on the match.  Freshman Hapa Patcho (Waipahu, Hawai’i/Ke Kula Kaiapuni ‘O Anuenue) added six kills for Evergreen while Kameo Dela Cuadra (Salinas, Calif./Hartnell College) put up 18 assists in her second match for the Geoducks.

Great Falls was led by 10 kills each from Kelsey Vanuden and Devon Bogart.  Averi Pasma finished with 18 assists while Kila Adams had 15 assists of her own. UGF hit .378 on the match, putting down 40 kills with just nine errors.

Montana Western 3, Evergreen 0 – Box Score

The Geoducks played their best match of the weekend thus far but it wasn’t enough to earn the win, falling to Montana Western in straight sets, 25-16, 25-18, 25-21.

After trailing but keeping things close for the first two frames, Evergreen got off to a hot start in the third set but the Bulldogs showed their teeth, climbing back to collect the sweep for their fourth win of the season.

Evergreen was led by 12 kills from Watkins.  Brittany Covert (Chino Hills, Calif./Northern Michigan) added six kills in her Geoduck debut while Patcho finished with six kills and 18 assists on the match.

Montana Western was led by 12 kills from Bailey Branson.  Paige Latimer put up 34 assists as the Bulldogs hit .371 on the match with 44 kills and 11 errors on 89 total attacks.

The Geoducks wrap up tournament play on Saturday when they take on Montana Tech at Noon, followed by a match against Montana State-Northern at 6 p.m.

LIBERTY LAKE, Wash.  –  Outmanned 16 to seven, the Evergreen Geoducks fell short in their first match of 2012, falling to the 21st-ranked Carroll Saints, 3-0, in a non-conference volleyball match on Thursday evening as part of the Cascade/Frontier Red Lion Challenge at the HUB Sports Center in Liberty Lake, Wash.

The Saints (3-2) sprinted off to a lead, putting up six points before the Geoducks (0-1) managed to score their first point of the season.  Carroll continued to swing past Evergreen, throwing down 14 kills with no errors on 22 attempts for an amazing .636 hitting percentage.  On the other end, the Geoducks struggled to find their grove, hitting underground with five kills and six errors for a -.036 hitting percentage as they fell 25-8.

In the second frame, the Geoducks looked much better and played with Carroll early.  The Saints eventually pulled ahead, using a four-point run at the end to take the second set by a final of 25-12. Evergreen hit .025 on the set, putting up nine kills with eight errors on 40 attacks.  Carroll looked a little less heavenly, hitting .289 with 13 kills and two errors on 38 attacks.

The third frame was all Carroll from the beginning as Evergreen began to run out of gas.  The Saints scored the first nine points of the frame as well as the last nine points of the frame to cruise to a 25-5 set three win for a three-set sweep. Carroll hit .321 in the final set, putting up nine kills with no errors on 28 attempts.  The Geoducks handed the Saints 12 points on errors, scoring just five kills on 35 attacks to hit -.200 for the frame.

The Geoducks will be back in action with a pair of matches on Friday.  Evergreen’s first match of day two is at Noon against University of Great Falls, followed by a match at 4 p.m. against Montana Western.

Box Score