No. 17 RAIDER VOLLEYBALL (13-2, 6-1)
7 p.m. Friday – vs. Bushnell (8-3, 6-1) | Stream | Stats | Tickets
7 p.m. Saturday – vs. No. 4 Corban (13-2, 7-0) | Stream | Stats | Tickets

ASHLAND – With the Cascade Conference volleyball pecking order beginning to take shape, Southern Oregon is among five teams with one or no CCC losses. Two others in the same category are headed to town for what promises to be a telling weekend at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

Back home after an unbeaten three-match trip, No. 17-ranked SOU (13-2 overall, 6-1 CCC) plays Friday against Bushnell (8-3, 6-1) and Saturday against No. 4 Corban (13-2, 7-0), starting at 7 p.m. both nights. Over their next seven matches, the Raiders will see all six other teams with winning conference records.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: A few bumps in the road proved harmless as the Raiders survived a 3-0 road trip, defeating Oregon Tech (18-25, 25-17, 25-20, 25-18), Multnomah (25-19, 21-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-10) and Warner Pacific (25-16, 25-15, 25-12). After dropping their first set against OIT, they snapped a four-match series losing streak Tuesday against the Owls behind Savannah Schwindt, who came on to record nine of her 10 kills over the final three sets, and Sadie Byrd, who went for 11 blocks. Their biggest scare came Friday at Multnomah, where they overcame a 2-1 sets deficit and a 6-3 disadvantage in the tiebreaker, getting 13 kills from Marin Mackey. Mackey had 12 more kills on 22 attempts in Saturday's quick sweep of WPU.

NAIA TOP 25: The Raiders moved up two spots in last week's NAIA coaches' poll to No. 17, their highest post of the season. Corban bumped up one spot to No. 4, and Eastern Oregon stayed at No. 1 – but that is likely to change in next week's poll given the Mountaineers' five-set loss last Friday at Northwest (Wash.) that put the first dent in their record. SOU has appeared in the Top 25 each of the last five seasons and been among the top 20 in seven of the last nine.

BRIEFLY:

• The Raiders' 13-2 start is their best since 2019, when they also won 13 of their first 15 and went on to win the CCC title. They captured the title a year earlier, too, after winning 14 of their first 15.
• They enter the weekend with a 52-14 record inside Lithia Motors Pavilion (which opened in 2018), including a 35-11 record in conference matches. Eight of those CCC losses have been against ranked opponents. A win against Corban would be their first over a top-five opponent at home since they swept No. 4 Eastern Oregon in the 2019 CCC Tournament championship.
• Sadie Byrd recorded her two highest block totals of the season in back-to-back matches, going for seven against Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) on Sept. 9 and nine against OIT three days later. She sits atop the CCC blocks leaderboard and ranks third in the NAIA at 1.5 per set.
• In her first season at SOU, Marin Mackey has given the Raiders a consistent producer on the outside with 10 or more kills in 10 of 15 matches and eight or more in all but one of them. She's one of just three CCC players posting at least three kills per set (3.1) on an attacking average of .270 or better (.271).
• Junior setter Vitoria Mattos is the conference's only player among the top-five in both assists (5.4) and service aces (0.4) pet set. She's totaled 13 aces over SOU's last five matches.
• Over SOU's last eight matches, right-side hitter Hannah Stadstad averaged 2.3 kills per set on a .276 attacking percentage. Her production has been critical with one of the CCC's top attackers, Megan Perry, missing the last three matches due to injury.

ABOUT BUSHNELL: The Raiders are 28-5 all-time against Bushnell and have won eight of the last nine matchups, sweeping last year's series. But the Beacons are dangerous and riding a four-game winning streak, which started after they took a set off Corban in Salem. They rank third in the conference in opponents' attacking average (.114) with Bella Parque leading the CCC in digs (5.2) and Makenna Mosher near the top in blocks (1.1). Four different Beacons chip in at least two kills per set, an attack led by Matty Ladd (2.6, .321).

ABOUT CORBAN: After appearing in last year's national championship match, the Warriors remain one of the most dynamic teams in the country behind reigning NAIA Attacker of the Year Rylee Troutman, a junior outside hitter. She's again leading the CCC in kills (4.0, .297), while two of her teammates – Emma Bischoff (.367) and Allyson Reid (.331) – are the two most efficient attackers in the circuit. They're also among the NAIA's best in opponents' average (.087). They've won 30 of 32 sets since falling against No. 6 Viterbo (Wis.) and have won five straight matchups against SOU since the start of 2021. The Raiders lead the all-time series, 56-18.