FULLERTON, Calif. – No. 10-ranked Southern Oregon went deep into its roster to complete an unbeaten non-conference slate with wins of 3-2 over Life Pacific (Calif.) and 3-0 over Westcliff (Calif.) on Saturday at the Hope International Summer Slam.

Life Pacific, the Raiders' third Golden State Athletic Conference opponent of the weekend, extended the early match before losing steam during the tiebreaker in a 25-21, 25-20, 23-25, 25-27, 15-7 SOU win. The finale against Westcliff was a lopsided 25-17, 25-9, 25-9 decision.

The Raiders are 6-0 for the first time since 2021 entering next Thursday's Cascade Conference opener at Oregon Tech.

Their youngsters got to take the wheel against LPU – namely freshman outside hitter Kendyl Arnett, who recorded 12 kills, 15 digs and four service aces; redshirt-freshman right-side hitter Friley Curtiss, who tallied 10 kills on 20 swings for a .400 attacking average; and redshirt-freshman setter Alex Ching-Sam, who contributed 21 assists and 10 digs. Marin Mackey led the team with 14 kills, 19 digs and three aces, her third consecutive double-double.

The Raiders had opportunities to cut the contest short with leads of 23-22 in the third set and 24-22 in the fourth, but both ended with 3-0 LPU runs. The veterans got them off to a 10-2 lead in the fifth, a spurt that featured two kills apiece from Mackey, Sadie Byrd and Megan Perry. Perry finished with 11 kills and five blocks; Byrd added five and three.

Westcliff had no answer in the final match for Hannah Stadstad, the All-American right-side who played sparingly against LPU. She dropped in 11 kills on 12 attacks – good for an attacking average of .917 that raised SOU's team clip to .529. Arnett posted seven more kills, Andressa Ribeiro Soares had eight with seven digs, and Curtiss had six.

Senior libero Kayla Neidigh's floor defense was reliable throughout the day. She combined for 36 digs, including 19 with four aces in the five-setter.