1. NU Home
2. /
3. Athletics
4. /
5. Eagle Updates
6. /
7. Article

Athletics

EOU Comes Back to Defeat Eagles

LAGRANDE, Ore. - Eastern Oregon came back from a first set loss to win three straight and defeat the NU Eagles 3-1 (25-18, 14-25, 22-25, 20-25) tonight in league play. The Eagle fought hard but the Mountaineers were too tough at home this evening.

The Eagles broke an 8-8 tie in the first set with a 6-1 run to take a 14-9 after two straight kills by senior Breanna Covey. EOU would come back and make it 16-14, but the Eagles would score 5 straight points to increase their lead to 21-14 capped off by a Rae Ann Hastings kill. NU would maintain a safe distance the remainder of the set and a kill by Covey and service ace by Ashton Arbuthnot would earn the win for NU.

Eastern Oregon would rebound in the second set and come out firing on all cylinders taking a 15-5 lead after an NU attack error. The Eagles would not have enough to stop the Mounties’ momentum as they would cruise to the 25-14 set win.

NU would then come back in the third set battling hard as EOU would maintain a slim 17-15 lead. Alivia Johnson’s service ace and Arika Zwack’s kill would knot the score at 17-all, but Eastern Oregon would re-group and lead 22-19 punctuated by a Casey Loper kill. NU would pull to within one, 22-21 late in the set on kills by Rebecca Heiner and Zwack, but EOU would win the tightly contested set on a Taylor Stewart kill and an Eagle miscue.

The final set would see both teams battling for the lead with 10 ties and lead changes in the early going. With the set tied at 13-13, EOU would take a slim, 16-13 lead after a kill by Stefani Sorenson. Northwest U. would not go away without a fight and the Eagles would battle back to tie the game once more, 17-17, after two straight EOU attack errors. The Mountaineers would regain the lead and hold off the Eagles the remainder of the set for the victory and the match.

Northwest U. (12-8, 6-5 CCC) was led by Breanna Covey’s 16 kills and 7 digs. Arika Zwack scored a double-double with 10 kills and 11 digs while Heather Shulke had a match high 24 digs. Freshman setter, Ashton Arbuthnot finished with a match high 35 assists.

“We had a good week of preparation which showed in the first set tonight,” stated NU head coach, Steven Bain. “Unfortunately, even though we played hard, we weren’t able to carry it through the match. We have bounced back all year and my expectation is we will again.”

NU now travels east to Caldwell, Ida., for a match up against the league’s top team, College of Idaho, Saturday night. Live video and stats will be available on the C of I athletic web page. The link to their page can be found at the top of the CCC web page, www.cascadeconference.org
.

---

Posted on Friday, October 12, 2012 Share on Facebook