No. 22 RAIDER VOLLEYBALL (15-7, 7-5 CCC)
6 p.m. Tuesday – vs. Oregon Tech (11-9, 5-7) | Tickets | Stream | Stats
6 p.m. Thursday – at Warner Pacific (0-13, 0-12) | Stream | Stats

ASHLAND – As was a safe bet when the schedule was released, the Southern Oregon volleyball team's regular season will be defined by what the Raiders can do at home down the stretch against the Cascade Conference's top competition.

They'll play five of their final eight matches at Lithia Motors Pavilion (where they're 7-0 so far), including three against top-eight teams in the NAIA rankings. The stretch starts at 6 p.m. Tuesday with Oregon Tech (11-9, 5-7 CCC). The Raiders (15-7, 7-5) then travel to last-place Warner Pacific (0-13, 0-12) for a rare Thursday night contest before returning home to prep for Oct. 23-24 matches against No. 8 College of Idaho and No. 1 Eastern Oregon.

NAIA TOP 25: Contrary to what their sixth-place standing in the conference may suggest, the Raiders are not a middling NAIA outfit. They're currently in good shape with regard to national tournament qualifying prospects due to the CCC's dominance in the NAIA's National Selection Committee Top 25 poll, the inaugural edition of which was released last week. It had Eastern Oregon at No. 1, Corban at No. 5, College of Idaho at No. 8, Lewis-Clark State at No. 20 and SOU at No. 22. Only the Great Plains Athletic Conference had as many teams in the top-10 and more than five teams (6) overall in the poll. The next edition will be released Oct. 21.

LAST WEEK IN REVIEW: SOU completed a regular-season sweep of Walla Walla (Wash.) on Friday with a season-best attacking average of .432. After needing five sets to defeat the Wolves in Ashland, the Raiders were never in danger on the road behind Briella Mathis (13 kills) and Friley Curtiss (11 kills) in a 25-14, 25-22, 25-16 sweep. A night later, they went to five sets against No. 20 Lewis-Clark State for the second time in five weeks and fell 15-25, 25-23, 25-23, 22-25, 11-15. After stealing the second and third sets, they led 15-11 in the fourth but couldn't finish the job. Taylor Boyce (22 kills) pushed the Warriors while Curtiss had 14 kills and assisted seven blocks for the Raiders.

BRIEFLY:

• Prior to the LC State loss, the Raiders posted their three most efficient attacking clips of the CCC season in consecutive wins: .289 against Northwest, .390 against Evergreen and .432 against Walla Walla. Their season average of .208 now ranks 35th in the NAIA; their opponents' combined average of .159 would be 113th on the leaderboard.
• Six of SOU's seven losses have come against Top 25 teams and all have been on the road. Dating back to last year, 11 of SOU's last 12 regular-season losses have been against nationally-ranked opponents. The Raiders also own two wins against current Top 25 teams: No. 12 Taylor and No. 20 LC State.
• In conference play, Friley Curtiss is No. 5 on the CCC leaderboard in total kills (123) and No. 8 in kills per set (2.7). She was also No. 5 and No. 9 in those respective categories a year ago when she made the All-CCC team.
• Maelle Garon has logged 20-plus digs on five occasions, including three times in SOU's last five matches. The sophomore libero had 30 in a 3-1 win two weeks ago against Northwest, becoming the first Raider to reach that number in a four-set match since 2013. In CCC play, she ranks fourth in digs per set (3.6), 10th in service aces (17) and first in service-reception percentage (.952) among those with at least 200 chances.
• Annie Hite is 55 assists away from becoming the seventh Raider to log 2,400 in a career.

ABOUT OREGON TECH: The Raiders won their eighth consecutive matchups with the Owls on Sept. 17, 25-21, 25-18, 27-25, and are now 108-32 in the all-time series. The Owls have been better since that date, winning three of their last four and pushing Corban to five sets on the road. They feature good balance with four players turning in more than two kills per set, led by Kaliko Schilling (2.6), who was limited to five on 22 attempts against SOU. They're also averaging the eighth-most blocks per set (2.4) in the NAIA and got the Raiders for 11 the first time around.

ABOUT WARNER PACIFIC: The Knights remain winless in CCC play and haven't claimed a set since their conference opener against Bushnell. SOU won the first matchup 25-23, 25-21, 25-15, improving to 61-4 in the series. Anne-Tayah Toa leads the team at 1.9 kills per set but has more errors (87) than kills (80).