kopra
Al Case, Ashland Daily Photo
2
Southern Oregon SOU 25-5
3
Winner Midland (Neb.) MID 30-3
Southern Oregon SOU
25-5
2
Final
3
Midland (Neb.) MID
30-3
Winner
Set Scores
Team 1 2 3 4 5 F
Southern Oregon SOU 25 19 25 20 13 (2)
Midland (Neb.) MID 21 25 22 25 15 (3)

Game Recap: Volleyball | | SOU Sports Information

SOU drops five-set heartbreaker to No. 7 Midland on Day 1

SIOUX CITY, Iowa – Three straight Midland (Neb.) points to end Tuesday night kept the Southern Oregon University volleyball team from enjoying its most thrilling match of the season on the biggest stage.

On the first day of NAIA Championship pool play at the Tyson Events Center, 19th-ranked SOU was two points away from completing an upset of the No. 7 Warriors before succumbing to a 21-25, 25-19, 22-25, 25-20, 15-13 defeat.

The Raiders (25-5 overall) led the tiebreaker set 13-12 following Corynn Kopra's career-high 24th kill and a clutch combo block by Laura Morse and Niki Small. The Warriors tied it with Ashlee Harms' 23rd kill; took the lead on Harms' 24th kill after a rally in which they nixed four Raider attacks; and won it on a double-hit violation that took the air out of another lengthy rally and suddenly ended the match.

Midland improved to 30-3 on the season.

As if their urgency wasn't already apparent, the Raiders will enter must-win mode, likely needing to win their remaining matches Wednesday against No. 7 Vanguard and Thursday against No. 22 Coastal Georgia to keep their season alive. Both start at 3:45 Pacific Time.

Besides Kopra's monster night, the loss also spoiled Lauren McGowne's 52 assists and 11 digs and some sturdy all-around floor defense by the Raiders. Ashlyn Flynn totaled 25 digs, Tyana Andrews had 20, Kopra had 18 and Laura Morse had nine to go with 10 kills. The dig totals were season-bests for Flynn and Andrews and kept Midland at a .169 attacking average – its lowest in 10 matches.

Until the fifth set – which saw the score tied at 11 different points – the Raiders spent much of the night playing from behind. In set one, they gave up the first five points and trailed 16-8 before putting together a 13-2 run and finishing it off behind Morse's seven kills and Kopra's five.

Midland dominated the second, keeping SOU to a .000 attack by forcing nine hitting errors, but the Raiders roared back again in the third after trailing 19-15. They tied it at 21-all on McGowne's ace and went up on a Kopra smash, then consecutive Midland errors and Andrews' kill gave them a 2-1 set advantage.

The Warriors never trailed the fourth, hitting a match-best .310 in the set, before the back-and-forth fifth ensued.

Priscilla O'Dowd helped the Warriors with 18 kills on 42 attacks, and KC Heimann had 13. Jessica Peters totaled 50 assists, and Darcy Barry collected 20 digs.

The Raiders had won their first three five-set matches this season until dropping their last two.

Up next is Vanguard, which was a four-set winner over Coastal Georgia in its opener. The Raiders won their first meeting with Vanguard in September and will be attempting to avenge last year's pool-play loss to the Lions that knocked SOU out of the tournament.
 
Print Friendly Version