EOU Volleyball Named CCC Team of the Week
By Garrett Christensen on Tuesday, December 6th, 2022 in More Top Stories Northeastern Oregon News
LA GRANDE – (Release from Eastern Oregon University) Eastern Oregon University Volleyball has been named the CCC Under Armour Team of the Week for their performance at the NAIA Tournament. The Mountaineers share the award with Corban University’s volleyball team as both teams went undefeated in the NAIA Tournament’s first three matches earning NAIA Semifinal berths. The two CCC powerhouses will face off for the fourth time this season in the semifinals Monday evening at 5 p.m. CST. It will be a historic match marking the first ever semifinal appearance for both programs.
“Thank you to our conference for this amazing award, and congrats to Corban for their first semifinal appearance as well,” Head Coach Kaki McLean Morehead said. “I am incredibly proud of our conference and thankful for the strength that it has.”
The Mountaineers are currently 3-0 at the NAIA National Volleyball Tournament, winning both pool play matches and their quarterfinal match yesterday. So far, the Mountaineers have only dropped one set the entire tournament and have swept their last two opponents.
Eastern took on St. Xavier for their first match on Wednesday morning winning in four sets. The Mounties cruised to a couple of dominant set wins in the first two sets lead by Madison Morgan who led the team in kills on the day with 11. The Cougars were able to take one set from Eastern before going down in the fourth.
In their final pool play matchup of the tournament the Mountaineers swept No. 20 Cornerstone University in straight sets. Cornerstone put up a solid fight but couldn’t slow down Eastern’s balanced attack that saw three players account for nine kills each. Cambree Scott, Kara Clayton, and Sade Williams all had nine kills leading the Mountie attack and ending Cornerstone’s 34-match winning streak.
Going 2-0 in pool play, the Mountaineers secured their spot in quarterfinals to take on Marian University. Strong defensive play at the net and efficient serving helped power the Mounties to another sweep thus securing their first ever NAIA Tournament Semifinal appearance. Preslee Jensen had her biggest match of the tournament racking up 12 kills on .269 hitting.
The Mountaineers are now slated to take on CCC foe and co-CCC Team of the Week winner, Corban University in the semifinals. The two teams are more than familiar with each other as this will be their fourth matchup of the season. In their first meeting, EOU swept the Warriors on the road. When Corban visited La Grande, they got their revenge winning in five sets. In the last matchup between the two top-5 teams, Eastern came out on top in five sets claiming the CCC Tournament Championship title.
First serve is scheduled for 5 p.m. CST on Monday evening at the Tyson Events Center in Sioux City, Iowa. The winner will make history earning their place in the national championship game, a feat that neither team has ever accomplished. The only CCC team to ever play in the National Championship was Western Oregon University when they were members of the conference. They made it to the big game in back-to-back years in 1987 and 1988 but couldn’t bring home any hardware.
