ASHLAND – The sixth-ranked Southern Oregon University volleyball team capped a perfect opening day of the Raider Invitational with a marathon win against No. 18 Vanguard (Calif.), coming back from two sets down to take a 21-25, 27-29, 25-22, 25-20, 15-13 decision late Friday night at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
The day started with a 25-23, 25-19, 19-25, 25-20 victory over William Jessup (Calif.). The Raiders improved to 4-0 going into Saturday's matches at 2 p.m. against Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) and at 7 p.m. against No. 20 Jamestown (N.D.).
Right-side hitter
Maddie Pernich had the hot hand in the clutch for the Raiders against Vanguard (6-1), going for four of her 10 kills in the tiebreaker set on only six swings. SOU finished the match with a 4-1 spurt in which it got a pair of kills from Pernich and won on a bad set.
The Raiders also the third and fourth sets on 4-1 and 5-1 runs. Their back-row defense of
Emma Ryan (17 digs),
Kya Knuth (16),
Myla Norvell (16) and
Kadyn Jones (13) kept them in the match, while
Elliott Cook had seven blocks and
Kylie Ristvedt got in on five.
Taylor Ristvedt's 16 kills paced the team and
Makayla Hoyt added 13.
Vanguard attacked at a .400 clip in the first set and .060 the rest of the way. Aubryn Cole went for 19 kills, Kamelah Noel had 15 and Sam Rice highlighted a spectacular back-row effort with 38.
In the early matchup with William Jessup,
Taylor Ristvedt put down 16 kills on 30 attempts, hitting .400, and Cook chipped in 11 on 24. Ryan (22 digs) and Sarah Fanger (19) helped the Raiders hold the Warriors to a .150 average.
