KIRKLAND, Wash. – No. 7-ranked Southern Oregon sprinted to the regular-season finish line on Saturday. A Cascade Conference title was on the other side.
On the night
Josh Rohlfing became SOU's all-time winningest volleyball coach, he and the Raiders also celebrated their first championship since 2019 with a 25-18, 25-15, 25-17 sweep of Northwest (Wash.) at Brodin Pavilion. The CCC's first-ever three-way tie for first place saw them, Corban and Eastern Oregon all finish with 19-3 conference records.
Hannah Stadstad punched in 11 kills for the second night in a row and
Linda Conceicao assisted six blocks as the Raiders (25-3 overall) dominated throughout to eliminate the Eagles (13-17, 8-14) from postseason contention.
Rohlfing, who took over at SOU in 2007, upped his career record to 382-136. The championship was SOU's seventh of the regular-season variety during his tenure. He supplanted
Paul Elliott, his current assistant and the Raiders' head beach coach, atop the program's all-time list.
The Raiders will have the No. 23seed at the final site of next week's CCC Tournament, playing a quarterfinal match at 12:30 p.m. Friday in La Grande. EOU got the No. 1 seed and hosting rights on tiebreaker criteria – percentage of sets won in matches between the tied teams – and Corban got the No. 2 seed.
Their .396 attacking average on Saturday was the highest this season for a Northwest opponent.
Marin Mackey had nine kills;
Sadie Byrd had eight;
Megan Perry and
Mylena Testoni logged five apiece. Between those four attackers, they committed a total of two errors.
Testoni also contributed 10 digs and four blocks.
Kayla Neidigh went for 12 digs, and
Annie Hite registered 19 assists with seven digs.
The regular-season championship is SOU's 10th overall as a member of the CCC. Though the Raiders won't host the tournament, they are likely locked into a home date for the Opening Round of the NAIA Championships on Nov. 23.
*Update: This story has been edited to reflect that the CCC tiebreaker rules were originally misapplied. Coaches were informed Wednesday night that SOU will have the No. 3 seed in the CCC Tournament.
