LA GRANDE – Brooke Womack fueled a .400 attack with 12 kills as top-ranked Eastern Oregon stayed perfect and dealt No. 18 Southern Oregon its first Cascade Conference loss, 25-13, 25-20, 25-19, on Friday night at Quinn Coliseum.
The Raiders went down big early in the first and second sets and took a 16-15 lead in the third before surrendering six straight points, eventually falling to 10-3 overall and 2-1 in the CCC.
They were stymied by EOU's 9-3 advantage in blocks, eight costly service errors, and a Mountaineers attack that has been the NAIA's most efficient this fall by a margin of 45 percentage points (.319).
Jule Whitley contributed eight kills on 11 attempts and assisted four blocks for the Mounties, who improved to 14-0 and 3-0. They've lost only three home matches over the last four seasons, all to SOU.
Four Raiders notched at least five kills, led by Tessa Zimmermann, who committed just one error while compiling her handful. Annie Hite distributed 15 assists and Jadyn Daviscourt had seven digs.
The Raiders' early-season struggles against EOU were nothing new. Since the start of 2018, they're 2-6 in August and September matchups and 8-3 in October and November matchups between the teams.
They visit No. 9 College of Idaho at 3 p.m. PT Saturday. The Yotes will enter that contest at 10-0 after defeating Oregon Tech in four sets on Friday.
