LITHIA MOTORS PAVILION | ASHLAND, OREGON
7 p.m. Friday – College of Idaho at SOU | Live Stats | Stream
7 p.m. Saturday – No. 1 Eastern Oregon at SOU | Live Stats | Stream
 
ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University volleyball team still has work to do in order to lock up a playoff spot entering its final homestand of the regular season.

Sitting at 17-8 overall and 11-7 in the Cascade Conference, the Raiders will welcome College of Idaho (9-16, 8-10) on Friday and Eastern Oregon (24-2, 17-1) on Saturday to Lithia Motors Pavilion for back-to-back 7 p.m. matches. These are perennial circle-the-date opponents for SOU, and that's the case again with the Raiders and Yotes fighting for postseason berths and Eastern Oregon trying to protect the NAIA's No. 1 ranking. SOU had to forfeit the first scheduled meetings on the road when its roster was hit by COVID-19.

NAIA TOP 25: Eastern Oregon retained the top spot in Wednesday's new coaches' poll for the third consecutive edition. Corban, which is tied atop the conference standings with EOU, still sits at No. 3. No other CCC team is among the Top 25, but SOU is receiving votes again after being wiped off altogether two weeks ago. The Raiders are No. 33 overall.

PLAYOFF PICTURE: SOU currently holds the No. 4 spot in the standings – tied with Bushnell, but in possession of the tiebreaker – and can clinch a berth in the six-team CCC Tournament without any other help by winning three of its final four regular season matches. Unlike previous seasons, the entire tourney will be held on the home court of the No. 1 seed. (If Corban and EOU remain tied, that tiebreaker favors EOU.) The CCC regular season and tournament champions get automatic bids to the 48-team NAIA National Tournament Opening Round. If the Raiders don't earn one of those bids, their standing in the NAIA coaches' poll will determine their at-large credentials.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: The Raiders salvaged their three-match road trip on the final leg, rallying back from a 2-0 set deficit on Saturday at Bushnell to win 20-25, 20-25, 25-21, 25-20, 15-11. They did it behind middle Sadie Byrd's record-setting night: the junior posted 13 blocks, the most ever for a Raider in a single match, and had 14 kills on 21 attacks. Setter Hannah Randall also came through with 42 assists, 11 kills on 14 dumps, and seven digs. SOU faltered on the first two legs of the trip, losing in four at Oregon Tech and in three at No. 3 Corban. Both teams completed season sweeps of the Raiders.

BRIEFLY:

• The Raiders have produced CCC Players of the Week in back-to-back award cycles. Byrd received defensive honors this week, and on the conference leaderboard she now ranks fourth in blocks per set (1.1) and fifth in attacking average (1.1). No Raider has completed a season top-five in both categories since Nikki Keller in 2012. Randall took the setter award last week, and in five matches as SOU's every-rotation setter is averaging 9.5 assists per set. Over a full season, that average would be the best in the CCC. At 6.2 per set cumulatively, the junior ranks sixth.
• Kayla Neidigh is ninth among the CCC's digs leaders at 3.9 per set. Trinity Atuatasi has collected 82 digs over SOU's last seven matches, averaging 2.9 per set during that span.
• At 3.4 per set, Hailey Van Well still has the fifth-best kills average in the conference. Only one other SOU played has ranked top-five in consecutive seasons over the last decade: two-time CCC Player of the Year Taylor Ristvedt.
• The Raiders are seeking their first win against an NAIA Top 25 squad since 2019, when they defeated seven of them. They've knocked off a No. 1 team once previously: in 2011, when they opened the season with a four-set win against Fresno Pacific (Calif.).

ABOUT COLLEGE OF IDAHO: The Yotes have followed a five-match losing streak with four consecutive victories, but still likely need to win out and get a little help from around the conference to keep their playoff hopes alive. Plagued by injuries, they're leaning on a pair of sophomores, outside hitter Janae Rayborn (3.0 kills/set) and middle Chayla Slavin (2.1 kills, .272 avg., 1.0 blocks). SOU leads the all-time series, 67-37, but has lost three straight matchups (including the forfeit) dating back to last season.

ABOUT EASTERN OREGON: Since dropping their season-opening match to No. 7 Viterbo (Wis.), the Mountaineers have won 24 of 25 – mixing in only a five-set loss to Corban. Their attacking average-against of .090 is the lowest for a CCC team since 2009. Senior middle Cambree Scott, a second-team NAIA All-American, leads the defensive charge with a league-best 1.4 blocks per set and Hailey Arritola is No. 2 in digs at 4.8. They have four different individuals contributing at least four kills per set, led by Preslee Jensen (2.8, .235). SOU is 78-38 in the head-to-head series.