LA MIRADA, Calif. -- Southern Oregon University dropped its first two volleyball matches of the season Friday when the Raiders fell 3-2 to Vanguard and 3-1 to Cal. State-San Marcos in the first day of the Biola University/Holiday Inn Summer Slam.

The losses drop the Raiders' record to 1-2 with a pair of matches scheduled for tomorrow's second day of the tournament. Southern Oregon is slated to face Westmont at 10 a.m. and No. 7 Lewis-Clark State at 2 p.m.

"The number one thing for us tomorrow is to come and play 'Raider Ball,'" SOU head coach Josh Rohlfing said. "To us that means playing the game with passion. We need to show up ready to play and play every point and that's the number one goal for us right now."

Game One: Vanguard 3, SOU 2

BOX SCORE

Southern Oregon forced a fifth set after Vanguard won the first two sets, but a 12-2 run clinched the win in the fifth set for Vanguard after the lions posted game scores of 25-18, 25-19, 22-25, 27-29 and 15-5.

"We came out slow in the first two sets," Rohlfing said. "It was just a different speed than what we're used to in all facets."

Rohlfing attributed the slow start to the fact that the match was only SOU's second contest of the season, while it was the fourth for Vanguard. The Lions compiled an attack percentage above .400 in each of the first two sets. Southern Oregon never led in the first set and only briefly led 4-3 in the second.

The Raiders responded in the third set after falling behind 3-0. The Lions' largest led of the set came at 7-3 and again at 8-4, but SOU used a 12-5 run to turn the deficit into a 16-13 advantage. Southern Oregon scored the final two points to earn the set victory.

Vanguard took a two-point lead in the fourth set at 6-4, but SOU used a 9-2 run to go ahead 13-8. The Raiders looked like they might take the set easily when they held a late 23-17 advantage, but the Lions used an 8-2 run to tie the game at 25-25. Back-to-back kills by Megan Bartling (Medford, Ore./North Medford) and Sarah Holgen (Honolulu, Hawaii/Ashland) finally clinched the match-tying victory for SOU to force a fifth set.

The wheels came off for SOU in the fifth set, as a seven-point run for Vanguard turned a 3-3 tie into a 10-3 deficit for the Raiders. Natalie Scheller (Bend, Ore./Bend)'s kill broke the streak, but consecutive service aces closed out a 12-2 set-clinching run for the Lions.

"We just kind of lost our rhythm (in the fifth set)," Rohlfing said. "Volleyball's a momentum sport and we lost the rhythm we had in the sets three and four."

Holgen tied Vanguard's Jamie Heenan with a match-high 23 kills, while Scheller added 19 for the Raiders to go with 12 digs. Caryn Westrick (Bonney Lake, Wash./Bonney Lake) tallied a team-high 30 assists, with Angela Spieker (Bremerton, Wash./Central Kitsap) right behind at 28. Alexandra Leja led both teams with 61 assists for the Lions.

Game Two: Cal. State-San Marcos 3, SOU 1

BOX SCORE

The Raiders dropped their second game of the day when Cal. State-San Marcos took a 3-1 win with set scores of 25-19, 23-25, 25-16 and 25-22.

The first set was back and forth early with each team taking two-point leads before tying it up at 9-9, but San Marcos used a 9-2 run to jump ahead 18-11. The Raiders outscored the Cougars 8-7 the rest of the way, but it was not enough as CS-SM took the 25-19 victory and the 1-0 advantage in the match.

"We have no rhythm to our game right now and we're really inconsistent," Rohlfing said. "We're trying to find the right pieces right now andit's just been kind of a rough go."

Southern Oregon compiled an attack percentage of .500 in the second set, en route to tying the match up at one set apiece. Even with the Raiders' advantage in that category, the match came down to a 23-23 tie before Holgen posted back-to-back kills to pick up the win.

San Marcos opened the third set with a four-point run, thanks to the consecutive Lyndsey Sappington service aces. However, the Raiders scored six of the next eight points to tie it up at 6-6. With the Cougars leading 15-13 later in the set, three more service San Marcos service aces keyed a six-point streak to claim a 21-13 advantage as the Cougars cruised the rest of the way to the 25-16 victory.

The Cougars again took an early lead in the fourth set, jumping ahead 3-0, and led by as many as four points at 10-6 before the Raiders tied it up at 17-17. San Marcos scored the next two points and six of the next eight to take a 23-19 lead. A pair of Holgen kills brought SOU to within two at 24-22, but Taylor Degraaf's kill clinched the match for the Cougars.

Holgen posted a game-high 19 kills for the Raiders, tallying a .444 attack percentage in the match. Scheller added 11 kills for SOU, while Sappington led San Marcos with 18 kills. Spieker had a team-high 22 assists, with Westrick chipping in 18, while the Cougars' Alyssa Foster's 42 assists led both squads.

"We don't look like the same team that played last weekend," Rolhlfing said. "Today we feel like we didn't put our best foot forward in either match and it's really unfortunate, but we've got a long season ahead of us and we know what we're capable of."