CALDWELL, Idaho – The 11th-ranked Southern Oregon University volleyball team cleared one tall hurdle on the path to a Cascade Conference championship Friday night, defeating the College of Idaho inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center in five sets for the second straight year.
The Raiders (20-3 overall, 14-1 CCC) won the first two sets and had four chances to lock down their 10th straight win in the fifth, finally nailing it down as Sam Boehnke (Ashland, Ore./Ashland) buzzed a kill by the Coyotes (13-11, 10-5) for a 25-22, 25-21, 18-25, 23-25, 18-16 final.
Despite fighting back from a quick 4-0 deficit in the final set, the Yotes never saw a match point of their own. And, with the loss, they were officially eliminated from contention of adding onto the eight straight conference titles they've either owned or shared.
The Yotes had won 73 consecutive home conference matches when SOU reset that number last season. Eastern Oregon is the only other team to have taken them out in Caldwell this year, and speaking of the 13th-ranked Mountaineers, they'll be waiting for SOU in La Grande for Saturday's 6 p.m. match with a chance to force a first-place tie and avenge their five-set loss in Ashland.
Sophomore middle Emma Gasman (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan), whose kill on the previous point set up Boehnke's winning swing, posted a team-high 18 kills on 39 attacks. Lauren McGowne (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield) spread out 56 assists in helping Motade Atanda (San Jose, Calif./Presentation) to 16 kills, Boehnke to 12 and Paulla Pinheiro (Fortaleza, Brazil/Colegio Farias Brito) to 11.
Pinheiro also handled a career-high 26 digs to lead a Raider defense that sunk College of Idaho's hitting average to .147. The Raiders only hit .148 but forced C of I into eight fifth-set attacking errors.
The regular-season sweep of C of I is SOU's first since 2005.
Emily Ottinger had a match-high 20 kills, Bailee Kendall had 13, and Janessa Koelliker and Katy Robinson contributed 12 apiece for the Yotes. Sierra Porter had 57 assists and Kilee Lopez collected 35 digs.
The first set was tied 12 times before the Raiders won with three straight points on kills by Atanda and Gasman and a C of I error. The Raiders broke out from a 17-all tie in the second set with an 8-4 run that was finished off by Boehnke.
C of I never trailed in the third set and in the fourth was down only briefly, 2-1.
SOU also won the first two sets against the Yotes in Ashland and beat them in four.
Solidifying the Raiders' back row were Brookelynn Cole (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) (19 digs), Tyana Andrews (Rochester, Wash./Centralia) (16 digs) and Atanda (15 digs). Gasman led the way up front with five assisted blocks, and Boehnke had four.
