Eagles bow out

Eastern Washington battled back from two games down to force a fifth game but was unable to overcome Northern Colorado, falling 3-2 Friday night in the semifinals of the Big Sky Conference tournament in Cheney.

The Bears advance to the championship match tonight against No. 1 seed Portland State, which overcame fourth-seeded Montana in four games, 25-15, 17-25, 25-21, 25-15.

With the conference championship goes the Big Sky’s automatic berth in the NCAA Division I tournament.

Northern Colorado set the second-seeded host Eagles back on their heels before Eastern made it a match prior to succumbing in a tight fifth game. The Bears won 25-17, 25-23, 14-25, 20-25, 15-13.

“Coming back from 2-0 down, being one point away when one play equals two points – they got the point and we didn’t,” Eagles coach Miles Kydd said.

“We were two plays away from winning the match and one point from tying the match.”

Leading the Eagles in kills was Chenoa Coviare with 14. Hayley Hills added 12 and Sara Todorovich 11.

Hills added 15 digs.

“The girls showed a lot of character and a lot of desire,” Kydd said. “I give them full credit for being able to fight back because we didn’t play very well in the first two sets.”

Eastern finishes 18-11 after its 14th straight appearance in the Big Sky tournament.

•It was a memorable Senior Night for seven Cougars as Washington State went five games to knock off Oregon State 25-17, 23-25, 25-20, 25-27, 15-11 in a regular-season-ending Pac-10 match at Bohler Gym.

Sophomore Meagan Ganzer led the Cougars (18-12, 6-12 Pac-10) with 19 kills, senior Jackie Albright added 15 and junior Brittany Tillman 11 and hit .391. Freshmen Oceana Bush and Rachel Todorovich combined for 43 digs with senior Kelly Hyder adding 13.

Oregon State (12-18, 3-15) was led by Jill Sawatzky’s 27 kills and 23 digs.

•Washington (23-5, 13-5) led 3-1 and was within a victory of a win and a share of the Pac-10 title, but Oregon (18-9, 9-9) bounced back for a 15-25, 21-25, 25-23, 31-29, 15-13 win that spoiled Senior Night for the Huskies in Seattle and relegated them to a second-place finish.