Sports
A7
Thursday, September 1, 2022
ON DECK
Victory on the road
Thursday, Sept. 1
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Mountain View, La Grande at
Redmond, noon
Joseph at Wallowa, 5 p.m.
Cove at Imbler, 5:30 p.m.
Powder Valley at Pine Eagle,
6 p.m.
Tough preseason victories
may prepare Mountaineers
for successful season
Friday, Sept. 2
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
EOU at Corban, 7 p.m.
By ISABELLA CROWLEY
PREP FOOTBALL
The Observer
La Grande at Weiser, Idaho,
6 p.m.
Pilot Rock vs. Imbler, at Eastern
Oregon University, 7 p.m.
Joseph at Echo, 7 p.m.
Dufur Classic
Powder Valley vs. Camas Valley,
1 p.m.
Prospect Charter vs. Cove, 4 p.m.
A GRANDE — Playing in back-to-
back tournament games can be gru-
eling for athletes, but the Eastern
Oregon University volleyball team handled
the schedule while on the road at the Big Sky
Tournament in Montana and the Hampton
Inn Volleyball Classic in Missouri.
Across the two tournaments the Moun-
taineers went 7-1, losing their opening
game in Montanta on Thursday, Aug. 18,
against Viterbo University, but quickly
turning the ship around — beating Midland
University, University of Jamestown and
Carroll College. Across the three games,
the Mounties dropped only one set against
the Jimmies. Five of the seven wins at the
two tournament were over top-25 teams.
“I am incredibly proud of our team and
their ability to battle back after our fi rst
loss,” Eastern head coach Kaki McLean
Morehead said.
The Mountaineers continued their win-
ning streak Aug. 26-27 at the Hampton
Inn Classic with another four victories
— beating Ottawa University, Columbia
College, Central Methodist and William
Woods University.
The matches in the Missouri-based
tournament were hard-fought victories.
After dropping the fi rst set against Ottawa,
the Mountaineers rallied to win the next
three sets. Then after losing the fi rst two
sets to Columbia, Eastern clinched a come-
L
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Powder Valley at Baker
Tournament, 7 p.m.
Saturday, Sept. 3
COLLEGE FOOTBALL
EOU at Montana Western, noon
COLLEGE VOLLEYBALL
EOU at Bushnell, 5 p.m.
PREP FOOTBALL
Enterprise vs. Mohawk, at Dufur,
10 a.m.
Ione/Arlington vs. Wallowa, at
Dufur, 7:30 p.m.
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Pine Eagle at Imbler, 10 a.m.
Tuesday, Sept. 6
PREP VOLLEYBALL
Enterprise at Imbler, 5:30 p.m.
PREP BOYS SOCCER
La Grande at McLoughlin, 6 p.m.
Wednesday, Sept. 7
PREP GIRLS SOCCER
Isabella Crowley/The Observer
Eastern Oregon University’s volleyball team on Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2022, prepares for its conference
opener. The Mountaineers travel to Salem to face Corban on Sept. 2.
from-behind victory by winning the fi nal
three sets, including a 15-12 decision in the
deciding fi fth set.
“We wanted a preseason that was going
to push us really early on and for us to have
to have a really steep learning curve, and
we defi nitely achieved that with the oppo-
nents that we played. But more than that I
think it was great to be able to see the grit
that we showed in pressure situations and
the ability to come back after being down
0-2,” Morehead said. “I think those kinds
of things you can’t replicate and you learn
from and you use in future experiences.”
Eastern opens conference play
against Corban University — which they
lost to four times in 2021 — on Friday,
Sept. 2, in Salem.
The Mountaineers are well positioned
going into conference play after the tough
preseason. Led by senior Cambree Scott,
juniors Kara Clayton, Preslee Jensen and
Sade Williams, and sophomores Hailey
Arritola, Alexis McMurtrey and Madison
Morgan, the Mountaineers look to reverse
their recent fortunes against Corban.
“I’m excited to start conference play. I
think our preseason has really prepared us
for the conference that we do have,” More-
head said. “We have one of the toughest
conferences in the nation and it will only
help prepare us more for the national tour-
nament. We open up against two really
tough opponents, so it will be a good
weekend and hopefully we can use what
we’ve learned so far.”
La Grande at Seaside, 3 p.m.
Mountaineers look to bounce back after season-opening loss to Montana Tech
By ISABELLA CROWLEY
The Observer
LA GRANDE — It cer-
tainly wasn’t the start to the
season the Eastern Oregon
football team was hoping
for, but head coach Tim
Camp remains optimistic.
The Mountaineers sur-
rendered 445 total yards of
off ense, while turning the
ball over four times, in a
lopsided 38-3 Frontier Con-
ference loss to Montana
Tech on Saturday, Aug. 27,
at Community Stadium in
La Grande.
“The one thing I know
going into football season
is that half the teams are
going to win and half are
going to lose. This game
doesn’t have to defi ne who
we are,” Camp said.
Everyone put in the
work this week to improve,
including the head coach
himself. Following the
opening night loss, Camp
said he stayed up until 2 a.m.
as he refl ected on his own
coaching and what he needed
to do better for the team.
He set out to make a
list of fi ve things he could
improve on, but by the time
he was done it was 21 items
long. Camp believes that
self-refl ection is as crit-
ical for coaches as it is for
players.
“I don’t like to react to
things,” he said. “I want to
respond.”
Which led to his main
question to the team in the
face of this loss: “How are
you going to respond?”
Drills looked diff erent
at practice this week for the
Mounties. Coaching staff
worked to put the team in
more live football situa-
tions. Tackling and cov-
erage were another two
major areas of focus during
the week. Those were areas
Camp identifi ed as needing
improvement during the
game against the Orediggers.
According to Camp, exe-
cution is key on off ense and
defense. When a play is
called, the team needs to be
able to execute it. He saw
opportunities against Mon-
tana Tech, but the plays
weren’t made.
“It really comes down to
execution and the ability to
trust one another,” he said.
This is why execution,
consistency and building
trust were also focused on
in practice this week. These
things will also come with
more game time together,
Camp said.
As head coach, Camp
doesn’t just look at what
went wrong, though — he
also searches for what went
right.
“In every football play,
somebody is doing some-
thing great,” he said.
Camp said he was proud
of the way special teams
played and thought there
were some bright spots in the
game against Montana Tech.
“The standard is the
standard. We are going to
play Eastern Oregon-style
football,” he said.
The Mountaineers look
to bounce back when they
take on Montana Western,
which lost 16-10 to Car-
Andrew Cutler/The Observer
Eastern Oregon running back Anthony Peterson (28) hurdles
Montana Tech defensive back Naoki Harmer (9) during the fi rst
quarter of the Orediggers’ 38-3 win on Saturday, Aug. 27, 2022, at
Community Stadium, La Grande.
roll College last week, for a
Frontier Conference game
in Dillon, Montana, on
Saturday, Sept. 3.
SPORTS SHORT
Oregon native excited for chance to play golf back in her home state
The Observer
Epson Tour/Contributed Photo
Oregon native Gigi Stoll, left,
celebrates a putt during the fi rst day
of the Four Winds Invitational in South
Bend, Indiana, on Friday, Aug. 12,
2022.
PENDLETON — Thanks
to the Wildhorse Ladies Golf
Classic making its debut on the
Epson Tour schedule, some pros
get to return to familiar territo-
ries. A few return to the state in
which they played collegiate golf,
while others are at home.
Gigi Stoll is one of those
players who calls Oregon home.
Although she’s from three hours
away in Beaverton, Stoll was
thrilled to see Pendleton on the
2022 schedule.
“I’m really excited,” she said.
“I’ve been hoping that Epson
would be able to put a stop in
Oregon, and I’m happy that they
were able to do it. Coming back
to Oregon is exciting.”
For most, being near home
naturally brings positive energy
to the week. For those who
live on the West Coast, playing
near home means familiar
faces walking the course and
receiving support in person
rather than via social media.
After spending most of the
season playing on the East
Coast, Stoll is ready for some
in-person cheering.
“It means a lot,” she said.
“You’re out here for most of the
year by yourself, so it’s fun to
have some support out here in
person.”
In a game of ups and downs
— and one that changes day-
by-day — Stoll reminds herself
to be positive and patient. While
some rounds or tournaments may
not end the way she wants them
to, she remains “neutral” and
kind to herself.
“Playing a game that tugs
at your emotions, it’s really
important to try and stay neu-
tral,” she said. “I continue to
tell myself that I’m doing all the
right things on and off the golf
course and it will pay off . Being
in Oregon this week brings back
a lot of good memories for me
and it reminds me of where I
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came from and why I continue to
pursue golf.”
Stoll started her season strong,
with fi ve top-30 fi nishes before
June. She missed four consecu-
tive cuts in July and August but
most recently fi nished T50 at the
Circling Raven Championship.
Getting back into Sunday golf
was good momentum for Stoll
heading into this week’s Wild-
horse Ladies Golf Classic.
“The level of competition on
the Epson Tour might be the best
it has ever been right now,” she
said. “I believe the top 50 on this
tour could compete on the LPGA.
That really pushes me to give it
110% day in and day out.”