LA GRANDE, Ore. - Stefani Sorensen had six of her 15 kills in the decisive fifth set, as Eastern Oregon ended a 36-match losing streak to The College of Idaho, rallying to defeat the No. 12 ranked Lady Yotes 16-25, 25-23, 22-25, 25-22, 15-7, inside Quinn Coliseum.
Box Score
The win for the Mountaineers (17-6, 10-4 CCC) was their first against the Yotes since October of 1996 and ended a C of I 13-match win streak this season.
Early on, it looked as if the Yotes (16-5, 13-1) were going to have an easy time of things, getting three early kills from Kylee Nawahine to sprint out to a 12-6 lead in the opening frame, extending the margin to 20-12 on a Janel Porter ace, and cruised to the Set 1 win.
Set 2 was more of the same, as after eight ties, the Yotes used a six-point push, keyed by a pair of Jessica Peacock spikes, to take an 18-13 lead. EOU would not go away, pulling even at 21-21 on a Sorensen kill. After The C of I took a 23-21 on an Eastern blocking error, the Mounties would score the final four points of the period, including a Katie Keeney service ace to even the match.
Three kills in the first six points of Set 3 by Peacock gave the Yotes a 5-1 edge, extending it to 14-9 on a combo block by Torrey Hulsey and Sofia Anxo, before a four-point surge, including two Taylor Stewart kills, got EOU within 15-14. However, the Yotes would score seven of the next nine points, including two kills and a block by Hulsey to take command and grab a two sets to one edge in the match.
Set 4 was the turning point, as EOU used a four-point run - including an ace from Alisha Crane to lead 15-10. The Yotes wouldn't falter, scoring six-straight, including two Anxo kills, to take their final lead of the night at 20-19. Bobbi Sumpter would dump over a quick set for a kill and Casey Loper buried a spike to give the Mounties the lead, evening the match overall with a convincing kill by Loper to win the set.
Sorensen took over from there - recording back to back kills to give EOU a 3-0 lead in Set 5, with her fourth kill of the period forcing the Yotes to call timeout, trailing 6-1. A Hulsey kill would get The C of I within 10-6, but Stewart and Loper recorded back-to-back winners, with Sorensen ending the match with a kill, to clinch the win.
Peacock led the Yotes with 16 kills and Liz Myers had 10 kills and five blocks, but The C of I recorded 26 hitting errors, had 10 service errors, and committed seven blocking errors in the loss. Sierra Porter logged 39 assists and 15 digs for the Coyotes, with Janel Porter adding 24 digs.
Eastern got 16 kills and 11 digs from Loper, with Crane recording 10 kills and four blocks. Setter Karly Stack had 44 assists in the victory, with Kaitlyn Duncan notching 24 digs.
Both teams hit the road next weekend with matches at Concordia and Warner Pacific.
