Box Score

BOX SCORE

ASHLAND, Ore. – Southern Oregon University took down four-time defending NAIA champion and No. 1-rated Fresno Pacific 3-1 in the season opener for both teams Friday night at Riehm Arena.

A crowd of 750 came out to see the Raiders, who entered the contest ranked 14th in the NAIA preseason poll, defeat the Sunbirds 25-22, 25-21, 16-25 and 25-19. The victory snaps a 14-match SOU losing streak to Fresno Pacific and gives the Raiders their second-ever win against the California Pacific Conference power.

“That's a huge win for us,” Southern Oregon head coach Josh Rohfling said. “This is a great foundation for this team for the rest of the year. We improved as a program tonight. It wasn't just a match”

Southern Oregon jumped out to a 3-0 lead in the opening set, before Fresno tied it up at eight apiece. The Raiders pulled ahead by as many as four points at 16-12, but the Sunbirds continued to battle back, taking their only lead of the set on Sarah Holgen (Honolulu, Hawaii/Ashland)'s attack error to go up 18-17. Jessie Alcorn's service error tied it up at 18-18, and from that point the Raiders outscored the Sunbirds 7-4 to earn the set victory and break a 30-set SOU losing streak against Fresno Pacific, stretching back to 2002.

Fresno came out strong to open the second set, jumping ahead 3-0 over the Raiders. The Sunbirds led by as many as four points at 5-1 before Southern Oregon battled back to tie the game at 8-8 on one of Holgen's team-high 16 kills. Southern Oregon took its first lead of the game at 13-12 on Erica Adachi's attack error, but Fresno Pacific took the next three points to go ahead 15-13. A block by Holgen and Megan Bartling (Medford, Ore./North Medford) tied the game at 16 apiece, and the Raiders wouldn't trail the rest of the set en route to the 25-21 victory and 2-0 match lead.

The Sunbirds dominated the third set, outhitting Southern Oregon .294-to-.054 and winning by nine points, 25-16. Fresno Pacific jumped out to an early 12-4 lead, but the Raiders continued to battle. SOU took 10 of the following 15 points to pull within three at 17-14, but Kathleen Anderson led the way with three kills in the final 10 points for Fresno Pacific as the Sunbirds closed out the set on an 8-2 streak.

Southern Oregon responded to the set defeat by jumping ahead 3-0 and taking six of the first eight points in the fourth game. With the Raiders leading 8-4, the Sunbirds put together an 8-4 stretch of their own to tie the set up at 12-12. The Raiders began to pull away late, breaking a 15-15 tie with a 10-4 stretch to close out the match, with the final point coming on a block by Bartling and Liz Madden (Manson, Wash./Manson) to clinch the upset for the hosts.

“It was really our on court demeanor that set the game apart for us,” Rohlfing said. “It got sloppy a little bit by both sides, but we still played well. We had moments where we were magnificent; we had moments where we just dominated.”

Emily Carroll led the way with 45 assists for Fresno Pacific, while Caryn Westrick (Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake) and Angela Spieker (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap) split the setting duties for SOU, compiling 27 and 21 assists for the Raiders. Holgen tallied 16 kills, with Madden, Bartling and Natalie Scheller (Bend, Ore./Bend) each adding 11 in the victory. Alcorn finished with a match-high 17 kills for the Sunbirds, with Kathleen Anderson totaling 15 and Lyndsie Petersen chipping in 12 in the loss.

“That was a lot of fun to be a part of,” Rohlfing said. “We had an opportunity to entertain a wonderful crowd. It was just a phenomenal turnout for an August match, the first match of the year.”

Fresno Pacific has one more match in the Paul Elliott Invitational, facing Oregon Tech at 2 p.m. on Saturday at Riehm Arena. Southern Oregon returns to action Aug. 26, when the Raiders face Vanguard at noon as part of the Biola Invitational.