LA GRANDE, Ore. –
Kylie Porter,
Sierra Porter and
Emilee Chapman had three Cascade Conference trophies in their careers. After a dominating performance in tonight's title tilt in Quinn Coliseum against No. 9 ranked Eastern Oregon, the trio of seniors can add a fourth to their mantle.
The No. 25 ranked Lady Yotes (21-10) won their seventh CCC Tournament crown and fourth in a row, avenging a pair of regular-season losses to EOU – turning away the host Mountaineers 27-25, 25-21, 25-16 to earn the league's automatic bid to the NAIA National Championships.
C of I will learn their National Championship Opening Round pairing and site of next Saturday's match at 9 a.m. on Monday morning.
Kylie Porter had 12 kills and
Katy Robinson added 11 kills in 18 swings in the victory – the Yotes tenth victory in a row in the tournament, dating back to the 2011 season.
Things did not look good early for the Yotes, as two EOU (24-4) blocks and two isabelle Statkus kills helped the Mounties to a 10-4 lead in Set 1. C of I countered, scoring seven-straight points to take a 17-14 lead. EOU regained the edge at 23-22, but two Robinson spikes gave the Yotes set point. After the teams traded four side-outs, a
Kylie Porter kill gave C of I the opening win.
C of I rolled early in Set 2, as a
Sierra Porter ace gave the visitors an 11-6 lead. EOU jabbed back, as a Statkus-Rachelle Chamberlain combo-block capped a run to give the Mountaineers a 16-15 lead. Tied at 20-all, kills by
Randi Sturtz and
Abbey Fenton, followed by back-to-back EOU hitting errors helped the Yotes earn the set win.
The Yotes put the match away midway through Set 3, as back-to-back
Jayde Folsom aces started an 8-1 run to break an 11-11 tie, as C of I improved to 4-0 vs. Eastern in the postseason since 2001.
Sturtz had eight kills and Fenton logged seven kills for the Yotes;
Sierra Porter had a match-high 39 assists and
Kilee Lopez had 14 digs.
Statkus, Emily Nay and Amanda Miller each had nine kills for EOU, with Chamberlain recording 29 assists.
