No. 19 RAIDER VOLLEYBALL (3-6, 0-2 CCC)
6 p.m. Friday – vs No. 1 Eastern Oregon (10-0, 2-0) | Live Stats
4 p.m. Saturday – vs. No. 10 College of Idaho (7-2, 1-1) | Live Stats
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ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon University volleyball team's already-elite strength of schedule will get another boost when the No. 19-ranked Raiders play their first home Cascade Conference contests this weekend at Lithia Motors Pavilion. That's the good news.

The bad news is that anything beyond that won't come easy as SOU (3-6 overall, 0-2 CCC) tries to end its slump with matches at 6 p.m. Friday against top-ranked Eastern Oregon (10-0, 2-0) and 4 p.m. Saturday against No. 10 College of Idaho (7-2, 1-1). It'll be the first time ever that the Raiders meet two top-10 conference teams during the same regular-season weekend.

LAST WEEK: After facing three nationally-ranked opponents in non-conference play, the Raiders started the CCC schedule at Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), which is receiving Top 25 votes, and served for the match with a 24-20 lead in the fourth set. The weekend went downhill from there as LCSC rallied for a 23-25, 25-20, 19-25, 26-24, 15-12 win to stay unbeaten – thanks in large part to an 18-6 edge in blocks, and a school-record 14 blocks from NAIA Defender of the Week Karissa Lindner. A night later, Walla Walla (Wash.) swept the Raiders, 25-13, 25-16, 25-22, behind NAIA Attacker of the Week Sahara Browning's 18 kills. Yaimaris Garcia, a 6-foot Cuban setter, pumped eight kills and 26 assists into the upstart Wolves' potent attack.

BRIEFLY:

• Senior outside hitter Andressa Ribeiro Soares had one of the most impressive all-around individual performances for a Raider in recent memory at LC State, logging 18 kills, 32 digs and two service aces. Her dig total was the highest for any Raider since 2019, and it was the highest for a non-libero in Josh Rohlfing's 19 seasons as head coach. Among all CCC players, Ribeiro Soares ranks 12th in kills (3.0) and 20th in digs (2.5) per set.
• After starting the season on the right side, junior transfer Maya Watters is back at outside hitter and shined with 21 kills on 44 attempts at LC State. She is second on the team in both kills per set (2.6) and attacking average (.223). Watters, who played her first two seasons at Clarke (Iowa), is up to 561 career kills.
• Junior setter Annie Hite is 59 assists away from reaching 1,500 for her career, a number no Raider has hit since 2019.
• Since moving into Lithia Motors Pavilion in 2018, the Raiders are 75-18 in home matches. They've lost two straight home matches just once since 2021.
• Rohlfing is eight wins away from the 400th of his career. He became SOU's all-time wins leader last season and currently owns the seventh-highest win percentage (.735) among all NAIA coaches with at least 300 victories.

ABOUT EOU: The SOU-EOU rivalry reached a fever pitch last season, when the teams finished as CCC regular season co-champions and the Raiders knocked out the Mountaineers in both the CCC Tournament championship and the NAIA quarterfinals. EOU is well-equipped for a revenge tour behind All-America middle Kiauna Mack (3.3 kills, 1.9 blocks) and the team's top attacker from last year, Keira Vaughn (3.2 kills). The Mountaineers, seeking a fourth consecutive title, have won 30 of 31 sets and already swept three top-10 opponents. SOU is 81-41 in the all-time series after winning all three matchups in 2024.

ABOUT C of I: The Yotes have their highest ranking since 2018 with wins already against two Top 25 opponents, though they were knocked off in straight sets on their home court by Northwest (Wash.) during the CCC's opening weekend. They advanced to the final site of the NAIA Championships last season for the first time in seven years and are leaning now on a defense holding opponents to a .093 attacking average. Senior outside hitter Mia Hutchinson leads the attack at 3.3 kills per set. The teams split last year's series and SOU is 71-38 all-time against the Yotes.