Lithia Motors Pavilion | Ashland, Oregon
6 p.m. Wednesday – Oregon Tech (5-5, 2-2) at SOU (10-1, 4-0) | Live Stats
7 p.m. Friday – Bushnell (8-5, 3-2) at SOU (10-1, 4-0) | Live Stats
7 p.m. Saturday – Corban (11-2, 4-1) at SOU (10-1, 4-0) | Live Stats
LIVE STREAMS
 
ASHLAND – With a 10-1 record, a nine-match winning streak and an NAIA Top 25 standing that promises to improve again, the Southern Oregon University volleyball team has plenty to feel good about. But its biggest tests yet await this week, when three of the top-four teams in the Cascade Conference preseason poll will visit Lithia Motors Pavilion.

The No. 22-ranked Raiders (4-0 CCC) – whose fresh ranking will be revealed on Wednesday – host Oregon Tech (5-5, 2-2) at 6 p.m. Wednesday, Bushnell (8-5, 3-2) at 7 p.m. Friday, and No. 5 Corban (11-2, 4-1) at 7 p.m. Saturday. At this time a year ago, they were in the midst of a seven-match losing streak that included setbacks against all three guests, each of which would go on the qualify for the NAIA National Tournament. Now they're one of two teams with perfect CCC records.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: Their fortunes appear to be turning, as further indicated by a CCC road sweep last weekend of Evergreen (Wash.) and Northwest (Wash.) – teams they combined to go 0-4 against in 2021. They shut down both in four sets, starting with a 25-22, 25-22, 25-27, 25-22 defeat of the Geoducks. Simone Gordon notched a match-high 14 kills, Gwen Sheldon and Hannah Randall combined for 53 assists and 18 digs, and Mylena Testoni totaled 13 kills and 16 digs. A night later, during a 25-19, 15-25, 25-9, 25-17 win at Northwest, Testoni had season-highs of 15 kills and 19 digs – becoming the first Raider to record at least 15 of each since Paulla Pinheiro in 2014. SOU held the Eagles to a .038 attacking average, their lowest of the season, and just four service aces. Hailey Van Well tacked on 16 kills and Sheldon had 18 assists, eight digs and four aces.

BRIEFLY:

• During their winning streak, the Raiders haven't gone to five sets once and have gone to four sets three times. The last time they won nine straight without going to a tiebreaker set was 2015.
• At .251, SOU owns the top attacking average in the CCC. Junior middle Sadie Byrd holds the top individual spot at .391 on 1.6 kills per set. She hasn't posted more than two attacking errors in a match this season.
• Mylena Testoni is the only player in the CCC who is currently top-seven in service aces (0.4/set, 5th), attacking average (.277, 6th) and kills (3.0/set, 7th). She's recorded at least 10 kills in six of SOU's last eight matches, averaging 3.4 per set during that span.
• Hailey Van Well sits at No. 5 on the CCC kills leaderboard at 3.3 per set. As a heavily-relied-upon freshman last year, she was No. 3 (3.6). She's attacked at a .308 clip over her last seven outings.
• Kayla Neidigh has impressed in 10 starts filling in for injured libero Karina Oliveira, totaling 137 digs and 3.9 per set. Her overall average of 3.8 per set is eighth among all CCC players.
• SOU is registering the second-most assists per set in the CCC (12.2). Hannah Randall (5.4) and Gwen Sheldon (5.0) are both top-eight individually.
• Since Josh Rohlfing took over as head coach, the Raiders have a 217-57 combined record (.792) in conference matches with six CCC regular season championships – winning titles most recently in 2018 and '19.
• Since moving into Lithia Motors Pavilion in 2018, they're 40-10 at home with a 27-8 CCC record. Six of those losses have been against ranked opponents. They've lost three straight against ranked opponents at home and seven straight overall against the Top 25 dating back to the 2019 national tourney.

ABOUT OREGON TECH: The Owls returned all but one starter from a team that went 18-4 in the CCC and qualified for the national tournament last year, but have been up-and-down to this point and lost their most recent outing in four sets at Evergreen. They're dangerous on the pins, where they feature NAIA All-American outside hitter Nicole Reyes (3.5 kills/set, .236) and all-conference outside Kaylin Talonen (2.8 kills/set, .218). Libero Aubrey Kievit (4.1 digs/set) is a two-time All-CCC selection, and Molly Grace has been their most efficient attacker with a .368 average. They won both meetings against SOU in 2021, ending a 34-match losing streak in the series.

ABOUT BUSHNELL: In consecutive seasons, the Beacons have turned in their first top-four CCC finishes in team history. They went 16-6 last year and returned five starters – including CCC Setter of the year Makenna Northern (7.5 assists/set), CCC Libero of the Year Callie Wilkins (4.5 digs/set), and All-CCC first-team outside hitter Shay Coons (2.2 kills/set, .164). Their two conference losses have come against top-seven squads Eastern Oregon and Corban. They split last year's series with the Raiders, and SOU is 26-5 all-time against them

ABOUT CORBAN: The Warriors are the defending CCC regular season and tournament champions and, with three Top 25 wins already, are primed to make their seventh consecutive national tournament appearance. Their CCC title defense was dealt an early blow with a straight-set home loss to EOU, but they haven't dropped a set since in winning four straight matches. Senior outside hitter Avari Ridgway (3.5 kills/set, .215) is the reigning CCC Player of the Year, senior libero Kealani Ontai (4.8 digs/set) is a two-time CCC Defensive Player of the Year, and sophomore outside hitter Rylee Troutman (3.6 kills/set, .236) is a second-team NAIA All-American. Their sophomore middle, Allyson Reid (.296, 0.8 blocks/set), is a two-time selection to the All-CCC team. They won both matchups last year against SOU – though the one in Salem went five – and have won eight of the last 11 meetings since ending a 26-match losing streak in the series in 2016.