LA GRANDE – The 11th-ranked Southern Oregon and 13th-ranked Eastern Oregon volleyball teams are back to tied atop the Cascade Conference standings after the latter's four-set victory over the former Saturday night at Quinn Coliseum.

The Mountaineers (24-3 overall, 14-2 CCC) paid back the Raiders (20-4, 14-2) for a five-set loss in Ashland with a 25-22, 23-25, 25-21, 26-24 win that was their 29th straight at home.

Kasaundra Tuma pounded 17 kills on 35 attacks, Emily Nay had 11 on 25 and Eastern became the first team since the Raiders' four match of the season to attack over a .200 average, settling in at .208.

Both teams have two matches left next Friday and Saturday – SOU at home against Concordia and Warner Pacific, and EOU at Northwest Christian and Corban. In the event of a tie, Eastern will own the tiebreaker because they only needed four sets in their win and SOU needed five.

Motade Atanda (San Jose, Calif./Presentation) kept the Raiders in it with a match-high 21 kills on 42 attacks (.381) and 11 digs. 

After losing a 14-7 lead in the first set, SOU trailed 23-21 in the second when it scored the last four points on a run started by Emma Gasman (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan)'s kill. Gasman finished with 12 kills (.290) and five assisted blocks.

SOU had a lead midway through the third set, too, and was up 20-17 in the fourth before a Nay kill and service aces. Tied at 24-all, Tuma and Isabelle Statkus set up match point with a block of Paulla Pinheiro (Fortaleza, Brazil/Colegio Farias Brito), and Nay cashed in with her final kill.

Though Pinheiro had 12 kills and 11 digs, she needed 44 swings and erred on 11 of them. Eastern was credited with 13 blocks, led by Tuma's six and Rachelle Chamberlain's five.

SOU Brookelynn Cole (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) and EOU's Jessalyn Smith tied for match-high honors with 28 digs.

Raider setter Lauren McGowne (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield) had 46 assists, eight digs and three assisted blocks. Chamberlain assisted 53 of EOU's 58 kills.