ASHLAND – It's come down to the final week of the regular season for the Southern Oregon volleyball team, as the Raiders face their biggest road trip of the year this weekend against No. 15 College of Idaho and Eastern Oregon with the Cascade Collegiate Conference regular season championship on the line.

Southern Oregon, 18-8 overall and 14-2 in conference play, enters Friday's match tied with College of Idaho for first in the CCC standings. The Coyotes currently hold the tiebreaker for the rights to host the conference tournament after sweeping SOU in Ashland last month, but two wins this weekend would give the Raiders the outright title and the opportunity to host the tournament next weekend.

“It's going to be a very arduous task for us to go up there and get two wins,” SOU head coach Josh Rohlfing said. “We're hoping to go up and put up two of our best matches this year and give us a chance to win those matches.”

The Raiders rank among the top four teams in the conference in every team stat category, and they lead the CCC in blocks during conference play (2.35 per set). Haley Kasler (Grants Pass, Ore./Hidden Valley) ranks seventh in the league in kills (3.13 per set) and 10th in attack percentage (.258), while Nikki Keller (Carson City, Nev./Carson) ranks first in blocks (1.28) and Renee Yomtob (Boise, Idaho/Centennial) ranks third in digs (3.98).

Friday's matchup will give the Raiders a chance to avenge a three-set loss to the Coyotes last month. College of Idaho and Southern Oregon have finished as the top two teams in the conference in each of the last six years, and this year has continued that trend with the two teams holding a two-game lead over EOU atop the CCC standings.

The Raiders are 58-25 all-time against College of Idaho, although in recent years the rivalry has been almost a perfectly even split. From 2007-10 the home team won every matchup between the teams, before the Raiders broke that streak with a three-set sweep of the eighth-ranked Yotes in the CCC Championship match last season in Caldwell, Idaho. College of Idaho returned the favor this season when the Yotes defeated SOU in Ashland for the first time since 2006.

College of Idaho boasts a 17-6 overall record this season and leads the conference in hitting percentage (.225), opponent hitting percentage (.140) and kills (13.29), while ranking second in blocks (2.09) and third in assists (12.21). Jessica Peacock ranks fifth in the CCC in kills (3.3) and fourth in attack percentage (.300), while Sierra Porter's 10.24 assists per game ranks second.

Saturday's matchup will be with an Eastern Oregon team that owns a 20-6 overall record, 12-4 in conference play. The Mountaineers rank second in the CCC in kills (13.07), assists (12.21) and opponent attack percentage (.146). Stefani Sorensen ranks sixth in the conference in kills (3.21) and second in hitting percentage (.315), while Kaitlyn Duncan ranks fourth in digs (5.66).

“They're playing as good of volleyball as anyone in our conference right now,” Rohlfing said of an Eastern Oregon team that has won its past eight matches. “We fully expect that they're going to be fast and aggressive.”

The Raiders are 71-24 all time against Eastern Oregon, and SOU won two out of three against the Mountaineers last season. Eastern Oregon swept SOU in La Grande in their first meeting in 2011 before SOU downed the Mountaineers in five sets in the regular-season finale and in the CCC semifinals. Earlier this season EOU claimed the first two sets before SOU won the next three in Ashland to earn a five-set victory.

Southern Oregon goes into the weekend with a chance to win its first outright conference regular season title since 2005. Two wins would claim the outright title, while a sweep victory over College of Idaho would set SOU up to host the CCC Tournament on Nov. 9-10. But after both teams beat SOU on this road trip last season and C of I swept the Raiders earlier this year, Rohlfing knows the task is easier said than done.

“They both play really well at home,” Rohlfing said. “It's going to be an exciting time. We're excited for this opportunity, and hopefully we come back with a conference championship.”