PORTLAND – Southern Oregon's well-rounded attack was unstoppable for the second night in a row and the 10th-ranked Raiders shook off a slow start to top Warner Pacific 24-26, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21 on Saturday at C.C. Perry Gym, completing a perfect Cascade Conference weekend road trip.
Taylor Ristvedt stuck 17 kills with just two errors,
Dani Johnson tallied 13 kills and 13 digs and
Makayla Hoyt had 11 kills and one error to lift SOU (21-2, 14-2 CCC) to a .398 team attacking average – its best in conference play against any team outside of last-place Walla Walla.
On the other side, the Knights (7-15, 6-11) committed 12 more attacking errors (25) and were doomed by 13 service miscues, the most for a Raider opponent this year in a three- or four-set match.
The Raiders also had a 9-5 advantage in blocks. Hoyt assisted six and had one to herself, while Ristvedt was in on four.
Elliott Cook contributed to the dominance in the middle with eight kills on 14 attacks for a .500 average.
Ristvedt's effort marked the sixth time this season she's recorded at least 10 kills while hitting better than .500. Hoyt has now done the same five times.
Natalie James directed the attack with 34 assists.
Hannah Bogatin had 11.
SOU stayed tied for first place with Eastern Oregon and one win ahead of Corban. If the Raiders and EOU both win out, SOU will own the tiebreaker and claim hosting rights for the final two rounds of the CCC Tournament on Nov. 9 and 10.
The Raiders will be home for the last time in the regular season next Friday and Saturday, playing Northwest (Wash.) and Evergreen (Wash.).