ASHLAND – Its lineup depleted by injuries in recent weeks, the Southern Oregon University volleyball team gave setter Hannah Randall the keys on Friday night and she drove the Raiders to a pivotal five-set win over Northwest (Wash.) at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

In a break from the norm, Randall, a junior from Eugene, played every rotation and rewarded SOU with 47 assists – the most for any Raider since 2016 – seven digs and three service aces. She put down five kills, too, the last of which clinched the 25-22, 23-25, 20-25, 25-20, 15-13 comeback.

When the night began, the Raiders (15-6 overall, 9-5 Cascade Conference) and Eagles (12-11, 8-7) were among six teams occupying the third-through-eighth spots in the standings that were all separated by one loss. The victory put the Raiders alone in fourth place and gave them an opportunity to supplant Evergreen (Wash.) in third when they face the Geoducks at 7 p.m. Saturday.

Randall helped Hailey Van Well to 19 kills, Sadie Byrd and Katie Vroman to 11 apiece, Simone Gordon to eight and Carol Melo to seven. Byrd was also in on seven of the team's 12 blocks, while Melo had five and Van Well added four.

The Raiders – who rallied back from a 2-1 sets deficit for the second time this season – posted a .214 attacking average to Northwest's .144, helping to overcome the Eagles' 15 service aces. They completed a sweep of the season series.

After Northwest compiled five aces in the third set to go ahead, SOU evened things up in the fourth as Randall served them to seven consecutive points for a 22-13 lead. Byrd dazzled in the frame with five kills and teamed up with Gordon for a block on the final point.

The lead changed hands nine times in the tiebreaker. With the Raiders trailing 13-12 out of a timeout, Vroman delivered a monster kill to level the score, and Van Well followed her with another to set up match point. There, after assisting both of the previous kills, Randall snuck one through to finish the job.

Kayla Neidigh led the back row with 20 digs and Trinity Atuatasi had 15.

For the Eagles, Morgan Harter went for 23 assists and six service aces, Abi Broussard had 16 kills, and Reece Denney had 10 digs, five kills and four aces.

Evergreen, which swept Oregon Tech on Friday night, will enter Saturday's match a half-match up on the Raiders at 10-5. SOU won the first meeting in four sets.