BOXSCORE 

The 11th-ranked College of Idaho volleyball team won its 37th straight Cascade Conference home match with a hard fought 25-18, 16-25, 26-28, 27-25, 15-12 victory over 21st-ranked Southern Oregon tonight in Caldwell, Idaho.

The Coyotes improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in conference play. Southern Oregon dropped to 9-2 overall and 3-1 in conference. Southern Oregon hosts Northwest University and Evergreen State next weekend.

The Raiders got another impressive performance by junior right-side hitter Leah Bergstrom (West Linn, Ore./West Linn). Bergstrom had a team-high 18 kills and three blocks. Junior Heather Porter (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield) added 10 kills with only two errors and also had a hand in eight blocks.

Kathryn Ely had 19 kills for the Coyotes.

The Yotes looked like they were going to make it a quick night as they hit .406 in the first set victory. But Southern Oregon came back and took control of the match, winning the next two sets by committing only four errors and giving themselves a chance to win in the fourth set.

After trailing 19-11, the Raiders came back and cut the lead to 22-21 after a pair of Dolores Christensen (Paradise, Calif./Paradise) aces. The Raiders then tied the set at 24-24 with back-to-back Bergstrom kills. After an error by the Coyotes, SOU had match-point but an error and a Jessie Link kill forced the fifth set.

The Coyotes led 5-1 in the fifth set before the Raiders came back and cut it to 10-9 on a College of Idaho attack error, but that's as close as the Raiders would get in the set.

Becky Johnstone (Lake Arrowhead, Calif./Rim of the World) had 21 digs for the Raiders, while Angela Spieker (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap) had 24 assists and Caryn Westrick (Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake) had 22 assists.