LA GRANDE, Ore. – Emily Ottinger recorded a match-high 19 kills helping the College of Idaho rally to upset No. 11 ranked Eastern Oregon in five sets at the Cascade Conference Championships, presented by U.S. Bank, inside Quinn Coliseum.
The 25-19, 14-25, 22-25, 25-23, 15-3 victory by the fourth-seeded Lady Yotes (18-11) move the squad into the title game for the ninth-straight year – looking to win their fourth-straight tournament title tomorrow vs. Concordia at 5 p.m. (PT)
C of I rallied from a two sets to one deficit, holding off a huge Mountaineers (26-4) surge in Set 4 before crushing the regular-season league champs in the winner-take-all finale, recording the largest margin of victory in a fifth set in school history in the rally scoring era (breaking the mark of 15-6 vs. Palm Beach Atlantic in 2001 and Northwest Nazarene in 2002).
After three kills from Casey Loper, part of a 4-0 run to cap Set 3, giving EOU the match lead, C of I responded in a big way. A 7-1 surge midway through the period, gave the Yotes a 19-11 edge, before the Mounties evened the score at 22-22 on a Piper Cantrell ace. Tied 23-23, Kylie Porter smashed a kill, with the junior combining with Sierra Porter for a combo-block to force Set 5.
From there it was all C of I, as Ottinger recorded three kills and Bailee Kendall added three more, as the Yotes sprinted to a 9-3 lead. Ottinger closed out the match by serving the final six points – as EOU recorded three hitting errors, with a Katy Robinson spike sending the visitors into a frenzy.
Kylie Porter had 15 kills and five blocks, Kendall added 13 kills, and Janessa Koelliker recorded 10 kills and five blocks. Sierra Porter had 56 assists and four blocks, with Kilee Lopez leading C of I with 26 digs.
Loper, Amanda Miller, and Katina Ferguson each had 14 kills in the loss for EOU, with Kasaundra Tuma recording 10 kills.
