By: SOU Sports Information
Friday, 7 p.m.: SOU at Corban - Live Stats - Live Stream
Saturday, 2 p.m.: SOU at Northwest Christian - Live Stats - Live Stream
NAIA Volleyball Top 25
ASHLAND – While protecting its No. 10 NAIA ranking and a one-loss conference record, the Southern Oregon University volleyball team is justifiably wary of everyone.
The Corban Warriors and Northwest Christian Beacons are no exception despite their recent struggles.
The Raiders (15-3 overall, 9-1 Cascade Conference), who have moved up in six consecutive NAIA polls, will bridge the gap between their return home next weekend with trips to Corban (5-13, 2-9) at 7 p.m. on Friday and Northwest Christian (6-9, 3-8) at 2 p.m. on Saturday.
SOU and No. 9 Eastern Oregon are the only one-loss teams remaining in the conference standings. To keep it that way, they'll need to win their 24th straight over the Warriors and reverse the fortunes that led to them getting swept at NCU last season. That loss was their first to the Beacons in the all-time series between the teams.
The Raiders already took care of both outfits in straight sets in early November at home. Their current win streak, which was kept active last Wednesday at Oregon Tech, stands at five.
"We're looking to stay sharp and continue our progression through the second half of the conference season," SOU coach Josh Rohlfing said. "But these teams are also competing for playoff positions so they'll be ready to go."
The Beacons come into the weekend tied for the sixth and final playoff spot, but the bottom five teams are all separated by one loss.
It's been a while: The end of an eight-day break signals the beginning of SOU's stretch run. The weekend off was appreciated, especially since it was preceded by a five-set comeback win over the Owls. The Raiders have already played more five-set matches this year (four) than they did all of last year (three).
The reliable right arm of Paulla Pinheiro (Fortaleza, Brazil/Colegio Farias Brito) helped them pull out the latest. She started the night with 10 kills and 12 attacking errors and finished the last two sets with 10 kills and no errors. Pinheiro also had 15 digs, as did Motade Atanda (San Jose, Calif./Presentation) to go with her 18 kills. The outside-hitting duo has been in double-digit kills and digs in the same match five times.
The conference kill-per-set averages of Atanda (3.9) and Pinheiro (3.7) rank second and third among CCC players. Pinheiro also jumped to first in aces (0.5) and Lauren McGowne (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield) is first in assists (11.4). Emma Gasman (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan) is 14th in attacking average (.260), sixth in blocks (1.1) and seventh in aces (0.4).
About Corban: SOU's quickest match of the season was against the Warriors, who were unable to break the 14-point barrier in any set. That was in the middle of a 10-match losing streak, but the Warriors have won two of their last four by taking down Evergreen and Northwest Christian in four sets.
"I'm impressed by the improvements I've seen them make while watching them on video," Rohlfing said. "Those wins were against quality teams and have put them in the playoff hunt."
Freshman Shantelle Hill leads them in kills per set (2.5), freshman Sloane Morrison leads them in attacking (.284) and sophomore Haley Meili leads them in assists (7.3).
About Northwest Christian: The Beacons have yet to take a set from one of the conference's top-four teams, but still feature two of the CCC's most dangerous attackers in Chandler Gabrio (three kills/set) and Chelsea McGowan. They've also been a tough matchup for the Raiders in recent history, jumping out to a 15-6 lead in the first set in Ashland before losing 31-29 and never recovering.
"They've moved some athletes around and solidified a couple of key positions," Rohlfing said. "They have two of the strongest hitters in the conference and played us tough at our place. We know what difficulties they will present for us."
