OLYMPIA, Wash. – Posting three sets hitting over .300, the 10th-ranked Eastern Oregon Mountaineers swept past the Evergreen Geoducks, 25-17, 25-21, 25-22, in a Cascade Conference volleyball match on Friday evening at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

Eastern Oregon (20-2, 10-0 CCC) built an early lead to open the match but the Geoducks (2-12, 1-8 CCC) kept it within reach.  That was until the Mountaineers used a 5-0 run to pull ahead by seven and EOU cruised the rest of the way to the 25-17 set one win.

The second set was tight early and despite an early EOU run that put the Mounties up by five at 14-9, the Geoducks battled back to get within one point at 21-20 but a 5-1 EOU run was enough to secure a 25-21 win to put Eastern up by two sets.

In the third set, the Geoducks came out hungry and kept with the nationally-ranked Mountaineers the entire way.  After never leading by more than two, Eastern picked up their biggest lead of the frame on a kill by Casey Loper that clinched the match with a 25-22 set three win.

Evergreen was led by 13 kills from Victoria Love (Seaside, Calif./Seaside HS/Hartnell College).  Cassidy Watkins (Tucson, Ariz./Mountain View HS/Trevecca Nazarene Univ.) added 10 kills while Kelsey Delagrange (Longview, Wash./Kelso HS/Mt. Hood CC) picked up 36 assists on the night.  The Geoducks hit .238 on the night, connecting on 40 kills with 15 errors on 105 total swings for their top hitting match of the season.

Eastern Oregon was led by a match-high 18 kills from Loper, who had just two attack errors on 32 swings to hit .500 on the night.  Stefani Sorensen added 12 kills while Karly Stack finished with 37 assists.  The Mountaineers hit .351 on the match, connecting for 49 kills with 10 errors on 111 total swings.

The Geoducks play host to College of Idaho on Saturday night, beginning at 7 p.m. at CRC Gymnasium.  Eastern Oregon is also in action on Saturday, traveling to Kirkland, Wash. to take on Northwest, also beginning at 7 p.m.

Box Score

KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – The Oregon Tech Hustlin’ Owls found a way to get points when they needed as the Evergreen Geoducks were swept in a Cascade Conference volleyball match on Saturday night in Klamath Falls, Ore.

In the first half, the teams came out evenly matched as neither squad could earned much of a lead early.  With the score tied 10-10, Oregon Tech managed four straight to open the gap and the Geoducks couldn’t catch up, allowing another four-point run late that allowed the Hustlin’ Owls to earn the 25-18 set one win.

The second set looked to be a good one for the Geoducks as Evergreen took the lead early and seemed to be on their way to tying the match, leading 15-13.  Then the wheels came off as the Owls put together 12 straight points to take the second set, 25-15.

Evergreen battled like crazy in the third frame to force a fourth set and it looked that way late as a three-point run put the Geoducks within a point of taking the set at 24-21 but the Owls put together a three-point run of their own.  After a number of sideouts, Oregon Tech finally closed out the match, using three-straight points to earn the 31-29 set three win and clinch the match in straight sets.

Evergreen was led by eight kills each from Victoria Love (Seaside, Calif./Seaside HS/Hartnell College) and Molly King (Centralia, Wash./Centralia HS/Tacoma CC). Kelsey Delagrange (Longview, Wash./Kelso HS/Mt. Hood CC) had 20 assists while Liza Domingo (Ka’a’awa, Hawai’i/Kahuku HS/Lower Columbia College) led the Geoducks with 15 digs.

Oregon Tech was led by 12 kills from Marlee Smith and 11 kills from Kelsey Sampson.  Victoria Porter and Kayleigh Whelchel had 15 assists each while Marie Baumann led the back row with 15 digs on the night.

The Geoducks return home next weekend to open up the second half of conference play against Eastern Oregon on Friday and College of Idaho on Saturday.  Both matches are set for 7 p.m. at CRC Gymnasium in Olympia, Wash.

Box Score