ASHLAND – Southern Oregon got sharper as the day went on while opening with back-to-back sweeps in the Raider Invitational on Friday at Lithia Motors Pavilion.

The No. 6-ranked Raiders labored through a 25-22, 25-22, 25-23 win against Simpson (Calif.) in the morning session, then returned in the evening to trounce Park Gilbert (Ariz.) by scores of 25-13, 25-5 and 25-13.

Junior middle Tessa Zimmermann combined for 12 kills on 17 attempts and 10 blocks on the day, and sophomore right-side Friley Curtiss poured in 17 kills and eight blocks. They teamed up on a handful of those stuffs, helping SOU hold its opponents to a lowly combined attacking average of .018.

While those returners led the way, hard-hitting junior transfer Maya Watters also had a noise debut on the right side. She put up nine kills in the Simpson match, five more against Park, and did her work at an efficient .417 clip. Mia Jaeger, Watters' former Clarke University (Iowa) teammate, had 26 assists in her first SOU appearances.

The Raiders were never in much danger but pulled away at the end of each set against the Redhawks (0-2). They didn't need to against the Buccaneers (0-2) in a match that was typified by their 19-2 start in the second set.

Annie Hite totaled 21 assists, five digs and three service aces in that one. Andressa Ribeiro Soares posted eight kills and seven digs, while Bella Cormack, a newcomer in the middle, had five kills for the second match in a row. Tais Vega contributed four of the team's 10 service aces; Park didn't record any.

A redshirt-freshman duo was stellar at the libero spot – Jadyn Daviscourt with six digs and three aces in the first match, and Amanda Moffat with a match-high nine digs in the second.

The Raiders wrap up their first weekend at noon Saturday against Arizona Christian, which went 1-1 during Friday's action.