By: SOU Sports Information
7 p.m. Friday – No. 10 SOU (21-2, 14-2) vs. Evergreen (10-15, 8-8) – Lithia Motors Pavilion
5 p.m. Saturday – No. 10 SOU (21-2, 14-2) vs. Northwest (14-11, 10-6) – Lithia Motors Pavilion
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To this point, the 10th-ranked Southern Oregon University volleyball team has put together a season to remember. But with four matches left in the regular season, there still appears to be little to no margin for error if it wants to take back the Cascade Conference crown.
The Raiders (21-2 overall, 14-2 CCC) – still tied in first place with Eastern Oregon (and still in possession of the tiebreaker) and one loss ahead of third-place Corban – are home for the last time in the regular season this week, playing at 7 p.m. Friday against Evergreen (Wash.) (10-15, 8-8) and at 5 p.m. Saturday against Northwest (Wash.) (14-11, 10-6). The latter opponent is responsible for one of their two losses and will be in town for Senior Night, at which SOU will recognize
Kiley Barcroft,
Natalie James,
Dani Johnson and
Malie Rube.
LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: In improving to 8-1 on the road, the Raiders knocked off Multnomah (25-19, 25-20, 25-20) and Warner Pacific (24-26, 25-23, 25-22, 25-21) last Friday and Saturday in Portland. The match against the Lions was never close;
Taylor Ristvedt (12 kills, 21 attacks),
Elliott Cook (9 kills, 15 attacks) and
Malie Rube (8 kills, 15 attacks) led a .366 attack in their 16th sweep of the season. Against the Knights, the Raiders dropped the first set and were in danger of losing the second when, down 23-18,
Makayla Hoyt took over. During a 7-0 run, Hoyt dropped in two kills and at one point was in on three consecutive blocks, getting a hand from Rube (twice) and Ristvedt. Ristvedt finished with 17 kills on 24 swings,
Dani Johnson had 13 kills and 13 digs and Hoyt amassed 11 kills and seven blocks.
SCOREBOARD WATCHING: The top-two seeds at the end of the regular season will have a bye to the CCC Tournament semifinals and the top seed will get hosting rights for the semis and the championship, on Nov. 9 and 10, along with an automatic bid to the NAIA Tournament. In other relevant matches this weekend, Eastern Oregon and College of Idaho will host Northwest Christian and Corban. Nothing figures to be wrapped up until next weekend, however, when SOU plays at Corban and Northwest Christian and C of I travels to EOU.
HISTORY LESSON: The Raiders' win Friday at Multnomah made them 20-match winners for the eighth time during head coach
Josh Rohlfing's 12-year tenure. They're seeking their 14th CCC regular-season championship and first since they shared the title with EOU in 2014. They've been co-champions four times during the Rohlfing era, but the last time they won it outright was 2005 and the last time they hosted the CCC Tournament championship was 2010. If they can finish the regular season with just two losses, they'd join the 2009 Raiders as the only teams in program history to do so.
BRIEFLY
- The Raiders feature two of the top-10 hitters in the NAIA in terms of attacking percentage: Makayla Hoyt (.409), who is No. 6 on the national list, and Taylor Ristvedt (.358), who is No. 10. Neither of them, however, are SOU's top hitter in conference-only matches; that distinction belongs to Elliott Cook, who leads the CCC with a .414 mark. As a team, the Raiders are at .290 – the fourth-best average in the NAIA.
- No Raider this season had posted double-figure kills and digs in the same match before Johnson did it with 13 and 13 at Warner Pacific. She also accumulated 15 digs at Multnomah; her previous season-high was seven.
- Ristvedt's clip of 3.4 kills per set is the fifth-highest in CCC action. She's recorded double-figure kills in nine consecutive matches and hit over .500 with at least 10 kills in six matches. Hoyt has done the same on five occasions.
- The Raiders are 10-1 at home in their first season at Lithia Motors Pavilion. Throwing out the 2016 and '17 seasons at Ashland High, they've gone 30-2 on campus since the start of '14.
ABOUT EVERGREEN:
- SOU swept the Sept. 22 matchup in Olympia by scores of 25-17, 25-20 and 25-14 behind Ristvedt's 17 kills and Rube's 10. The Raiders are 34-1 all-time against the Geoducks and have won 30 straight in the series.
- The Geoducks have run into a difficult stretch of four straight losses but remain middle of the pack in attacking (.204) and opponents' attacking (.189) and are No. 2 on the CCC leaderboard in blocks (2.3).
- Chloee Hunt ranks seventh in the CCC in blocks per set (1.0) and ninth in attacking (.303), and senior Natalie Taylor is No. 4 in kills per set (3.5).
ABOUT NORTHWEST:
- The Eagles ended SOU's 14-match winning streak to start the season with a 13-25, 25-19, 17-25, 25-21, 15-12 upset on Sept. 21 in Kirkland. Behind Sarah Warner's 15 kills and 10 digs, they hit .417 over the final two sets and recorded 10 kills compared to one error in the tiebreaker.
- SOU is 41-7 in the all-time series but Northwest has won the last six matchups, including a sweep in last year's CCC quarterfinals.
- The Eagles are coming off a four-set upset of College of Idaho. They own the second-highest attacking average in the CCC (.232) and are the third-most proficient blocking team (2.3/set). Keann White (.335) and Audrey Saelens (.299) are their attacking leaders, and Warner posts 2.5 kills per set.