LEWISTON, Idaho – The No. 22-ranked Southern Oregon volleyball team flirted with a Top 25 road win before No. 20 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) tightened the screws late in a five-set match and prevailed 25-15, 23-25, 23-25, 25-22, 15-11 on Saturday at the P1FCU Activity Center.
After dropping a lopsided opening frame, the Raiders (15-7 overall, 7-5 Cascade Conference) stole the next two and led 15-11 in the fourth. Taylor Boyce dropped in six kills and the Warriors (14-4, 8-4) had six blocks the rest of the way to reclaim momentum.
Friley Curtiss delivered 14 kills, seven assisted blocks and six digs for SOU, which won the first matchup between the teams in five sets last month in Ashland.
The Raiders also got 12 kills out of
Briella Mathis, eight from
Marian Vega Castro,
Maelle Garon's 23-dig effort and eight
Tessa Zimmermann blocks.
But Boyce and the Warriors stole the show down the stretch, ending the fourth set on a 14-7 run and going up 5-1 to start the fifth. Their lead was never fewer than three points thereafter.
Boyce finished with 22 kills (though she also committed 10 errors on 55 attempts) and Ella Stosich drove LCSC's defense with 16 digs. Hadyn Smith and Aubree Lane combined for 23 more kills.
Six of SOU's seven losses have come against Top 25 teams and all have come away from home.
The Raiders will play five of their eight remaining regular-season matches at Lithia Motors Pavilion, including three against top-eight opponents. That stretch starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday against Oregon Tech.
