SPORTS
8A — THE OBSERVER
MONDAY, NOVEMBER 18, 2019
Five make all-CCC squad
Observer staff
Tomas Carradero photo
Eastern Oregon’s Oscar Alegria looks upfield during the Mountaineers’ title match
against Corban Friday in Springfield. EOU dropped the contest, 2-1.
EOU men miss first title, 2-1
Observer staff
The Eastern Oregon Uni-
versity men’s soccer team’s
impressive unbeaten run
ended one step short of the
program’s first Cascade Col-
legiate Conference title, but
the Mountaineers will still
have a surge of momentum
as they head to the NAIA
national tournament.
EOU fell in the CCC tour-
nament title match against
regular-season champion and
unbeaten Corban Friday, 2-1,
in Springfield, seeing their
seven-match unbeaten streak
— one in which they moved
from near the bottom of the
conference to an unlikely
CCC tournament berth to an
improbable NAIA berth —
come to an end.
“Today was tough. We
played very well (but) we
just couldn’t find the back of
the net more than that one
time,” head coach Zach Mills
said. “I guess we are just sav-
ing some goals for our trip
next week.”
Two goals by Charles
Cleyton — one in the 20th
minute and one in the 62nd
— gave Corban a 2-0 lead
before the Mountaineers
responded. Felipe Madero
scored just 2-1/2 minutes
after Cleyton’s second goal
to pull the Mountaineers to
within one. Eastern had four
more shots in the final 25
minutes as it aimed for the
tie, but one went wide and
three others were turned
away by Justin Keegan, who
finished with five saves for
the Warriors.
The match was a contrast
to the first meeting between
the teams, when Corban
handed EOU its worst loss of
the season, 6-1. The setback
was part of a 2-6 start to
CCC play by the Mountain-
eers, one that could have
derailed the team’s season.
Instead, the Mountaineers
rattled off victories in their
final five regular-season
matches — with a win in the
fourth over Warner Pacific
locking up a berth to the
CCC tourney.
Eastern followed with two
unlikely outcomes, topping
Oregon Tech and Southern
Oregon in shootouts to reach
the final against Corban and
an automatic national bid.
“We have said it from the
start (that) our goal was
nationals, and I’m glad we
reached it,” Mills said.
Eastern (9-9-3 overall) will
learn who it faces in the first
round of the NAIA national
tournament today.
SOU topples EOU in CCC final
Observer staff
The Eastern Oregon University volleyball
team will head into the NAIA national tourna-
ment with a bitter taste in its mouth.
The No. 4 Mountaineers coasted to a sweep
of No. 13 Corban in the Cascade Collegiate
Conference tournament semifinals Friday,
25-22, 25-16, 25-20, but then were swept by
No. 7 Southern Oregon in the championship
match Saturday, 25-12, 25-22, 25-18. The CCC
tourney took place in Ashland.
“SOU played really well. While we did some
great things we just didn’t put a complete
game together, and against a team like that,
you can’t afford it and it cost us,” head coach
Kaki McLean-Morehead said.
The title match against the Raiders was a
stark contrast from the first two regular-sea-
son matchups, which saw the teams battle for
five sets and the road team come away with
the win both times.
SOU used two big first-set runs — one of
5-0 and one later of 7-0 — to help build a 21-9
lead in a set the Raiders never trailed. The
SOU defense came up big during the second
run, as the combination of Taylor Ristvedt and
Makayla Hoyt had four blocks, including three
in a row for the 12-point lead.
Eastern built a 10-5 lead in the second set
on a Jessie White ace, withstood a Raider rally
to go ahead 15-13 on a Jet Taylor kill, and
battled to a 19-19 tie on a kill by Taylor Tib-
betts. Southern scored the next five points to
take a 24-19 lead on a Sara Fanger ace. EOU
pulled within two after a pair of Cambree
Scott kills and an SOU error, but Southern’s
Maddie Pernich ended the set with a kill.
An 8-1 run put SOU in control in the third
set, as another block, this one from Ristvedt
and Elliott Cook, put the Raiders in front
16-8. Eastern pulled as close at five on several
occasions late, the last at 22-17 on another kill
by Scott, but Southern ended the match with
three kills by Ristvedt, who had 10 on the
night to go with nine block assists.
Scott led the Mountaineers with nine kills,
and Taylor had six, but EOU, which entered as
one of the top blocking teams in the country,
had just three on the night. Madison Pilon had
25 assists, and Kiley McMurtrey and Aspen
Christiansen had 16 and 11 digs, respectively,
to lead the back row.
On Friday, Eastern ran away from Corban
for a sweep behind a defense that had 11
blocks and held the Warriors to a minus-.041
attack percentage.
“We played really well on Friday, controlled
the things we needed to and played our game,”
McLean-Morehead said.
Four straight points gave Eastern the lead
for good in the opening set at 10-7, and the
lead reached six at 24-18 after a Taylor kill
and a Corban attack error. A block by Tibbetts
and Taylor later ended the set.
EOU took control of the second set with a
10-1 run. Eastern’s lead reached nine on several
occasions before a block by Tibbetts gave the
Mountaineers their largest lead of the set at 24-
14. Breanna Shaffer ended the set with a kill.
A 7-1 run in the third gave EOU a 16-9 lead
on a kill by Megan Bunn. Corban got within
23-20 on an Kealani Ontai ace, but back-to-
back kills by Taylor ended the match.
Bunn finished with a match-best 11 kills,
while Scott had eight and Taylor had seven.
Scott also had six block assists. Both Bunn
and Tibbetts had five blocks, with Tibbetts
posting two solos. Pilon had 36 assists, and
McMurtrey and Christiansen again were
strong in the back row with 20 and 10 digs
respectively.
The Mountaineers (29-3 overall) wait to see
what their seed to the NAIA national tourna-
ment will be when its announced today.
Men’s hoops wins shootout
Observer staff
Two huge offensive perfor-
mances helped the Eastern
Oregon University men’s
basketball team to a win in
the second-highest scoring
effort in program history.
Max McCullough scored a
game-high 35 points, Jarek
Schetzle poured in 31 points
and grabbed 18 rebounds,
and the Mountaineers out-
lasted Pacific in a wild over-
time affair, 132-125, Friday
night in Forest Grove.
The duo was among
five players who reached
double figures in scoring for
Eastern, which rallied from
a 14-point halftime deficit
to force the extra session,
then dropped 25 points in
overtime for the win. Josh
Brown recorded 18 points,
Kobi Gardea added 14 points
and Brock Johnson scored 11
points.
Schetzle’s scoring effort
came on a night that saw
him shoot 15-for-16 from the
field. The center, who added
six blocks, scored six points
in the overtime period,
including a short jumper and
a dunk on back-to-to back
possessions to give EOU the
lead in overtime, 114-110.
Brown gave EOU a 119-117
lead with a layup with 2:11
to go and Johnson, who also
had six points in overtime,
hit a crucial 3-pointer to
make it a five-point game
with 1:45 to play. Eastern
iced the win with 10 free
throws, including six from
Gardea, in the final 75
seconds.
Schetzle added six of the
Mountaineers’ 11 blocks,
while McCullough toyed
with a triple-double as he
finished with seven re-
bounds and seven assists.
The Mountaineers, whose
point total trailed just the
146 scored in game against
Multnomah in 2010, shot
64.5% from the floor, includ-
ing 74% as they scored 61
second-half points to come
back.
Pacific led at halftime,
60-46.
EOU (3-2 overall) hosts
Northwest Indian on Friday.
Four members of the
Eastern Oregon University
volleyball team were named
to the all-Cascade Collegiate
Conference first team and
five in all were recognized,
led by junior Kiley McMur-
trey who was named the
CCC libero of the year.
“I’m so incredibly proud
of their accomplishments
on the floor, but proud that
other coaches see the work
they put in as well,” EOU
head coach Kaki McLean-
Morehead said.
McMurtrey, junior setter
Madison Pilon, senior out-
side hitter Megan Bunn and
sophomore middle blocker
Cambree Scott were each
first-team selections for the
No. 4 Mountaineers, while
sophomore middle blocker
Jet Taylor was tabbed hon-
orable mention.
McMurtrey was the co-
libero of the year a season
ago, but this time claimed
the award outright. The
junior collected 536 digs
during the regular season at
a clip of 4.9 per set to help
anchor the back row of the
EOU defense.
“Kiley being named libero
of the year is a great accom-
plishment,” McLean-More-
head said. “Our defense is a
huge part of our success.”
In conference play,
McMurtrey tallied 340
digs. She was also among
the toughest servers in the
conference with 42 aces,
including 31 in CCC action,
both of which were second
in CCC play.
“I’m definitely really
honored to have received it
and gotten that recognition,
but at the end of the day
the awards aren’t what the
season is about,” McMur-
trey said. “I just try to do
everything I can to make
our team better and reach
our goals.”
Pilon has turned in one of
the best seasons in program
history as a setter, as her
910 assists is fourth-most
in program history. Only
one player at EOU, Rachelle
Chamberlain, has had more
assists in a season than
Pilon. The junior was second
in the conference in assists,
both overall and in CCC
play, where she had 638.
The versatile Pilon also had
299 digs, 42 blocks and 32
assists on the season.
Bunn, who has cemented
herself as one of the top at-
tackers in program history,
has registered 352 kills this
season and led the CCC in
conference play with 265.
She is just the fourth player
in EOU history with mul-
tiple seasons of at least 350
kills. She also tallied 317
digs during the season.
Scott and Taylor formed
the best blocking duo in
the CCC with 135 and 117
blocks, respectively, to go 1-2
on the season among CCC
players. In conference play,
they were ranked second
and fourth in total blocks
(87 and 78, respectively)
and each put up 1.2 blocks
per set to tie for second. The
sophomores were also both
formidable on the EOU
attack with Scott recording
218 kills on the season and
Taylor close behind at 202.
Their totals on block assists
(127 for Scott and 115 for
Taylor) are currently second
and fourth in single season
program history.
SOCCER
Continued from Page 7A
of the season in the 59th
minute to level the match.
But Jensen, who felt she
should have been awarded
a penalty kick on a no-call
in the goal box moments
earlier, took out her frustra-
tion by scoring the go-ahead
goal, the first of the season
for the senior midfielder.
“I was kind of upset about
Ronald Bond/Observer file photo
Kiley McMurtrey was named a first-team all-CCC per-
former and the conference libero of the year.
Ronald Bond/Observer file photo
Megan Bunn, who had 352 kills during the regular
season, was named first-team all-CCC.
Ronald Bond/Observer file photo
Cambree Scott, who had 135 blocks, was a first-team
all-CCC performer.
Ronald Bond/Observer file photo
Madison Pilon was named first-team all-CCC after
tallying 910 assists, fourth-most in program history.
it, and right after that was
when they scored, so I had
a lot of built-up anger,” she
said. “We still had a lot of
time left in the game. We
scored and we held on for
the last 30 minutes.”
The goal by Gamache
ended a streak of five
straight shutouts by the
EOU defense, but Eastern
heads into nationals having
blanked 12 of their 19 op-
ponents on the season.
The title marks the third
year in a row Eastern has
claimed either the CCC’s
regular-season title or tour-
nament title. EOU also won
the tournament in 2017
and was the regular-season
champion in 2017 and co-
champion in 2018.
“This whole group wants
it. We all wanted to go to
nationals (and) want to go
to (the final site in) Bama,”
Farrington said.