LA GRANDE, Ore. – Senior Rachel Gowen (Oregon City, Ore.) and freshman Tiffany Land (Independence, Ore.) registered a team-high nine kills each, but Corban's women's volleyball fell to the nationally-ranked Mountaineers of Eastern Oregon, 3-0 (22-25, 21-25, 22-25), Friday night inside the Quinn Coliseum.
Coming off a weekend in which Corban swept a pair of match from Cascade and Warner Pacific, the Warriors knew that tonight would be a tough match figuring that Eastern Oregon had won the last six matches between the two teams.
In the opening set, Corban registered 13 kills versus Eastern Oregon's 16 with the difference coming from hitting mistakes. The Warriors committed eight hitting errors compared to the Mountaineers' seven. With the difference of three in the kill category and one more hitting miscue than the host team, the visiting Warriors fell in the opening set by three points (25-22).
In the middle set, Corban once again reached double digit in kills with 10 only to have Eastern Oregon recorded four more kills thanks to 14. At the net, the host Mountaineers registered only five hitting errors versus the Warriors' seven. Once again, the difference of kills versus hitting errors came into play as Eastern Oregon grabbed the second set by four points (25-21).
In the third and final set, Eastern Oregon once again registered 16 kills to go against Corban's 10. Another one hitting error difference came into play once again, as the Mountaineers only made five hitting errors versus the Warriors' six. The third and final set went the way of Eastern Oregon, as the Mountaineers won the third set (25-22) and swept the Warriors in three sets.
Along with Gowen and Land, senior Chelsea Reeher (Powell Butte, Ore.) and a pair of Warriors -- senior Rashelle Davenport (Kalama, Wash.) and sophomore Teri Braun (Dallas, Ore.) -- registered six and four kills respectively. Freshman setter Megan Dees (Tehachapi, Calif.) and junior Amy Thompson (Oregon City, Ore.) handed out a combined 27 assists with Dees leading the way with 16. Meanwhile, sophomore libero Rebecca Franke (Pendleton, Ore.) anchored the Warriors' back line with a team-high nine digs, while Land, Reeher, Braun, and Gowen each registered three blocks on the night.
Eastern Oregon was led by Melanie Ceciliani's match-high 14 kills, while Grace DeBoodt and Jessica Lea added 11 kills each. Lea also ran the Mountaineers' offense with a match-high 22 assists, while DeBoodt registered a match-high 14 digs in the back row.
With the loss, Corban falls to 7-7 overall, including 5-4 in conference play. Meanwhile, Eastern Oregon improves to 11-5 overall, 7-2 in conference action. The Warriors return to the court on Saturday, October 4th, when they continue their road trip against the NAIA's No. 30-ranked 'Yotes of The College of Idaho beginning at 6:00 p.m. (Pacific Standard Time) inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
