CALDWELL, Idaho –
Brenna Meehan had 17 kills and 13 digs and the College of Idaho piled up eight aces and 13.5 team blocks in stunning No. 6 ranked Eastern Oregon in four sets inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The Lady Yotes (13-8, 8-5 CCC) battled back from a one-set deficit to end Eastern's 19-match win streak with the 20-25, 25-15, 25-17, 25-13 victory – the highest-ranked opponent C of I has ever defeated on their own home floor.
The Mountaineers (19-2, 12-1 CCC), who were trying to join the 2006 Coyotes as the only teams in the last 13 years to complete a perfect Cascade Conference regular season, used a huge block in Set 1 to gain early control of the match. Middle Kasaundra Tuma had three blocks in the set, including a combo-block with setter Rachelle Chamberlain to give EOU a 13-7 lead – adding a stuff block to push the margin to 23-16. The visitors had six blocks in the set – but were limited to just one the rest of the night.
Meehan took control of Set 2 for the Yotes, recording eight kills in 12 swings without an error – including two kills and an ace in a game-changing 9-3 run that turned a 10-9 lead into an 18-11 advantage. C of I hit a match-high .451 in the period, recording 15 kills with just one attack error.
The Yotes never trailed in Set 3, using a dominating block to send the Mounties to the brink.
Ashley Pagan had a stuff block to give C of I a 16-8 lead, and then teamed with
Jackie van Vliet on back-to-back combo block to extend the margin to 19-8.
Tuma kept EOU around early in Set 4 with three kills in the first 15 points, but three kills each from Meehan and
Alaina Slater fueled a 13-5 surge that built the Yotes a 19-10 lead that was never threatened.
Slater finished with 10 kills and three blocks, with Pagan recording nine kills and five blocks and van Vliet recording five kills and a match-high eight blocks.
Jayde Folsom had 29 assists in the victory, with
Cheyan Coburn recording a career-high 23 digs for the Coyotes.
Amanda Miller led the Mounties with 13 kills, with Tuma and Makayla Lindburg adding eight apiece. Chamberlain had 35 assists and 12 digs for EOU, with Malia Mills recording 16 digs, one of four players for the visitors with 10 or more digs.
C of I continues their home stand this weekend with a match Friday vs. Northwest (7 p.m.) and Saturday vs. Evergreen (5 p.m.).
