Cole
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
Brookelynn Cole joined SOU's 1,000-dig club Saturday.
1
Warner Pacific WPC 5-18, 3-15
3
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 22-4, 16-2
Warner Pacific WPC
5-18, 3-15
1
Final
3
Southern Oregon SOU
22-4, 16-2
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Warner Pacific WPC 21 7 25 17 (1)
Southern Oregon SOU 25 25 22 25 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | SOU Sports Information

Raiders lock up share of first Cascade Conference title since 2010

ASHLAND – Southern Oregon didn't always look like a championship volleyball team Saturday evening against Warner Pacific, but that was only appropriate for the occasion.

That, and the defensive pressure that was applied. The 13th-ranked Raiders won 25-21, 25-7, 22-25, 25-17 at Riehm Arena the way they have all season – with the best defense in the league, an erratic attack, some head-scratching moments and maybe a set more than was necessary.

One way or another, these Raiders (22-4 overall, 16-2 Cascade Conference) are co-champions for the first time since 2010 and the fourth time since Josh Rohlfing took over as head coach in 2007. They share the title with Eastern Oregon, which won a tiebreaker for the right to host the conference tournament's semifinals and finals next Friday and Saturday.

EOU and SOU will have byes in Tuesday's quarterfinal round. Sixth-seeded Oregon Tech plays at third-seeded Concordia, fifth-seeded Northwest plays at fourth-seeded College of Idaho, and the Raiders will take on the top seed remaining of those winners in the semis.

As for Saturday, Motade Atanda (San Jose, Calif./Presentation) clinched the CCC kills crown with 24 on 45 swings to finish with a 4.3-per-set average. Brookelynn Cole (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) collected 20 digs to become the eighth Raider to ever surpass 1,000 for a career (she's at 1,010), and the Raiders limited Warner Pacific (5-18, 3-15) to an .082 attacking average – making the Knights SOU's 17th opponent in 18 conference matches to hit under .200 and the fifth to hit under .100.

"We said the same thing all offseason long – if we're going to be anything, we need to be better defensively," SOU coach Josh Rohlfing said. "To the players' credit, they responded to that challenge. The way we win isn't always pretty, but that defensive toughness has really helped us win a lot of matches when it might look like we shouldn't."

The Raiders finished on top of the league in opponents' hitting average at .129. Last year they were sixth at .186.

SOU also ranks second in the NAIA in blocks, picking up nine more of those against the Knights led by Abbie Hanser (Billings, Mont./Billings Central Catholic)'s six assisted.

Kelsea MacPhee (Klamath Falls, Ore./Mazama) had her second big outing in a row as a consistent part of the rotation with 11 kills and no errors on 17 swings, giving her 21 kills in two matches. In her three-year career before this weekend she'd totaled 22.

"She's making me look very dumb," Rohlfing said.

Sam Boehnke (Ashland, Ore./Ashland) added nine kills and Emma Gasman (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan) had eight for the Raiders, who hit .310 as a team. Paulla Pinheiro (Fortaleza, Brazil/Colegio Farias Brito) went for seven kills and 12 digs, while setters Lauren McGowne (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield) and Tyana Andrews (Rochester, Wash./Centralia) combined for 53 assists and 21 digs.

Janessa White put down 11 kills to lead the Knights, and Marchelle Bostic distributed 24 assists.
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