FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – October 31, 2026
La Grande, Ore.| The Warner Pacific University women's volleyball team faced one of the nation's top programs Saturday afternoon, falling in straight sets to No. 2 Eastern Oregon University at Quinn Coliseum in La Grande, Oregon.
The Knights battled against the nationally ranked Mountaineers but were unable to overcome Eastern Oregon's offensive efficiency, dropping the Cascade Collegiate Conference matchup by scores of 25-8, 25-10 and 25-9.
Tayah-Anne Toa led the Warner Pacific offensive attack with a team-high eight kills, hitting an impressive .304 on 23 attempts while also contributing four digs, one assist and a service ace.
Warner Pacific opened the first set with Toa providing an immediate offensive spark. The Knights answered Eastern Oregon's opening point with a kill from Toa, assisted by
Amor Rapoza, before Toa delivered another kill to even the score at 2-2.
The Mountaineers responded with a strong offensive run, building a 13-3 advantage before
Josie Schultz ended the scoring stretch with a kill off an assist from
Daisci Burrows. Toa continued to produce offensively, adding two more kills during the opening set, while
Mia Carman and Burrows also contributed to the Knights' attack.
Toa delivered a service ace late in the frame, but Eastern Oregon's offensive production proved too much as the Mountaineers claimed the opening set, 25-8. In the second set, Warner Pacific looked to establish more offensive consistency against Eastern Oregon's defense.
Carman recorded an early kill off an assist from Rapoza before
Naomi Johnson followed with a service ace to give the Knights consecutive points. Schultz added another kill midway through the set, while Toa continued to lead the offensive effort with two additional kills.
Carman contributed another kill late in the frame, but Eastern Oregon maintained control throughout the set and secured a 25-10 victory to take a two-set advantage. The Knights continued competing in the third set, with Rapoza opening Warner Pacific's scoring with a kill off an assist from Carman. Carman followed with a kill of her own, while Burrows added another offensive contribution to keep the Knights battling.
Warner Pacific put together one of its better stretches midway through the set, with Toa recording a kill to cut the deficit to 9-5. Toa and Burrows continued finding opportunities, helping the Knights remain within five points at 13-8.
Eastern Oregon answered with a decisive scoring run to extend its advantage. Rapoza added another kill late in the frame, but the Mountaineers closed out the match with a 25-9 third-set victory.
Toa finished as Warner Pacific's leading attacker with eight kills and a .304 hitting percentage. Carman contributed four kills, six digs and two assists, while Burrows finished with three kills, seven assists and three digs.
Rapoza added two kills, a team-high eight assists and four digs, while Schultz recorded two kills on five attempts for a .200 hitting percentage. Defensively,
Maya Moreno led the Knights with a team-high 10 digs, while
Madison Flores added six digs. Johnson contributed four digs and a service ace.
As a team, Warner Pacific recorded 19 kills, 19 assists, 39 digs and two service aces.
Eastern Oregon entered the matchup as the No. 2 team in the nation and demonstrated its offensive strength, finishing with 44 kills and a .461 hitting percentage.
The Mountaineers were led by Mylie Mills, who recorded 10 kills on 16 attempts without an attack error, while Brooke Womack added seven kills, four service aces and 10 digs. With the result, Warner Pacific moves to 0-19 overall and 0-18 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play, while Eastern Oregon improves to 27-2 overall and 16-2 in conference action.
Despite the challenging road matchup, the Knights received a strong individual offensive performance from Toa and continued to gain experience competing against one of the top teams in the NAIA.
Next Up
The Knights have two more games left in their season at home next week starting on Thursday against The Evergreen State College at 6pm.
