BOX SCORE

KIRKLAND, Wash. – Northwest ended No. 15 Southern Oregon's 24-set winning streak in the opening set, but the Raiders bounced back with three consecutive set victories to defeat the Eagles 3-1 (14-25, 25-16, 25-9, 25-18) in Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball action Saturday night at NU Pavilion.

With the win, SOU improves to 14-4 overall and 14-2 in conference play. Northwest falls to 11-10 overall and 9-7 in the CCC. The Raiders return home for the final two matches of the regular season next weekend, hosting No. 6 College of Idaho on Friday and Eastern Oregon on Saturday at 7 p.m. at Bob Riehm Arena.

Northwest hit .350 and limited Southern Oregon to a -.097 attack percentage in the opening set to earn the 25-14 victory. The Eagles jumped out to an early 6-3 lead in the set, but the Raiders rallied back to tie it at 9-9 on a kill by Natalie Scheller (Bend, Ore./Bend). Northwest then used a Breanna Covey kill to spark a five-point streak as part of a 12-2 run that gave the hosts a 21-11 advantage, and the Eagles closed out the opening-set victory on an attack error by SOU's Liz Madden (Manson, Wash./Manson).

The Raiders bounced back in the second set. Both teams played evenly through the first 20 points, leaving the set tied at 10-10, but SOU scored 15 of the next 21 points to tie the match up at one set apiece. Southern Oregon improved its hitting percentage to .292 in the set, while limiting Northwest to a .116 attack percentage, with the final point coming on an NU service error to give the Raiders the 25-16 win.

The third set was all SOU, as the Raiders hit .545 without a single error in the game. The Raiders opened the set on a 13-3 run before Northwest scored five of the next eight to make it 16-8. Southern Oregon responded with a five-point streak, and back-to-back blocks for the Raiders closed out the set at 25-9.

Northwest used a four-point streak early in the fourth set to come back from an 8-4 deficit and tie it up at 10-10. The Eagles took a brief lead at 11-10, but SOU tied it at 12 and scored seven of the next eight points to pull ahead by six at 19-13. Northwest responded with a pair of points to pull within four, but the Raiders closed the set on a 6-3 run and earned the match victory on Scheller's fourth kill of the night.

Megan Bartling (Medford, Ore./North Medford) finished with a match-high 15 kills for the Raiders, with Sarah Holgen (Honolulu, Hawaii/Ashland) adding 13 kills and 11 digs in the win. Becky Johnstone (Lake Arrowhead, Calif./Rim of the World) finished with 27 digs and Caryn Westrick (Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake) tallied 26 assists for SOU. Arika Zwack led Northwest with 10 kills, while Heather Shulke picked up a team-high 22 digs and Lauryn Ernster posted a double-double with 31 assists and 16 digs.