pinheiro
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
3
Winner Southern Oregon SOU 24-5
1
Columbia College CC 33-6
Winner
Southern Oregon SOU
24-5
3
Final
1
Columbia College CC
33-6
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 F
Southern Oregon SOU 25 19 26 26 (3)
Columbia College CC 15 25 24 24 (1)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | SOU Sports Information

SOU knocks off No. 8 Columbia on Day 1 of pool play

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Southern Oregon is sitting pretty after pulling off the upset of the first day at the NAIA Volleyball Championships in four sets against eighth-ranked Columbia (Mo.).

At the Tyson Events Center, the Raider defense rendered the usually-potent Cougar attack ineffective with a 14-2 advantage in blocks during a 25-15, 19-25, 26-24, 26-24 victory on Tuesday afternoon. Motade Atanda (San Jose, Calif./Presentation) smacked 19 kills, Paulla Pinheiro (Fortaleza, Brazil/Colegio Farias Brito) had nine kills and 16 digs, and Emma Gasman (Clovis, Calif./Buchanan) and Sam Boehnke (Ashland, Ore./Ashland) were in on 10 blocks and seven blocks, respectively.

If the 17th-ranked Raiders (24-5 overall) can get one win in their next two matches they'll be one of two teams to get out of Pool E and into single-elimination play, which begins Thursday. Next up for SOU at 11 a.m. Pacific Time on Wednesday is Texas Brownsville, which won the other Pool E match against Vanguard in straight sets.

Columbia (33-6) started the day with the second-most service aces in the NAIA (296) and the sixth-best attacking average (.272). Against the Raiders, the Cougars managed just five aces and a .148 average.

"We had such a calm confidence when we came out," SOU head coach Josh Rohlfing said. "Like I've been saying, I think we're peaking at the right time here in the last couple weeks. We've been so focused and intent on what we need to do and this is a direct result of that."

Atanda carried SOU through the first set with eight kills on 12 attacks. Trailing 9-7, the Raiders staged an 11-2 run behind the serving of Pinheiro and Brookelynn Cole (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) and cruised to the win with a .458 team clip that would shrink to .198 by the end of the match.

The Cougars had the upper hand in the second frame as SOU committed nine attacking errors, then jumped out to a 12-9 lead in the third before two Atanda kills and an Atanda block tied it. Five straight Raider points, capped by consecutive blocks, put them up 18-15, but Columbia chipped away to tie it at 24-all. SOU finally put the set away when Gasman and Kelsea MacPhee (Klamath Falls, Ore./Mazama) teamed up for a block of Viktoriia Lavenchenko and Laura Morse (Edmonds, Wash./King's) scored her second ace of the set.

The Raiders put the pressure on Columbia's attack again in a back-and-forth fourth set, coaxing the Cougars into 10 attack errors. SOU staked to an 18-14 before Columbia came back again, eventually serving for a set-point at 24-23 that Atanda denied with a kill. Lavenchenko's error gave SOU the lead, and the match ended appropriately on Boehnke and Gasman's block of 6-foot-5 hitter Polina Severina.

Brookelynn Cole (Portland, Ore./Central Catholic) picked up a match-high 23 digs and Tyana Andrews (Rochester, Wash./Centralia) had 10. Gasman and MacPhea had five kills apiece, Boehnke chipped in four, and Lauren McGowne (Coos Bay, Ore./Marshfield) had 24 assists.

Severina, who came in with a .303 attacking average, was bottled up all day with six kills on a .048 average. Brooke Simpson had a team-high 16 kills and Manon Soraru added 10.

"When you have one team that's used to playing at a faster tempo (SOU) and one team that's a little bigger and plays at a slower tempo (Columbia) … I think it was a little easier for us to adapt to them than it was for them to adapt to us," Rohlfing said.

The Cougars, who own three titles and more wins at the NAIA tournament than any other program in history, will be fighting for their season Wednesday against Vanguard.

SOU has only made it out of pool play once – in 2011, its last appearance in the 24-team tourney. The 24 wins equal the Raiders' most since they won 26 in 2007.
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