CASCADE CONFERENCE VOLLEYBALL TOURNAMENT
All times Pacific | Presented by U.S. Bank
Tuesday, Nov. 10 – Play-in Round (at higher seeds)
(5) Lewis-Clark State 3, (8) Walla Walla 0
(6) Bushnell 3, (7) Oregon Tech 1
Thursday, Nov. 12 – Quarterfinals (Caldwell, Idaho)
(3) Corban 3, (6) Bushnell 2
(4) Southern Oregon 3, (5) Lewis-Clark State 2
Friday, Nov. 13 – Semifinals (Caldwell, Idaho)
1 p.m. – (2) Eastern Oregon vs. (3) Corban
4 p.m. – (1) College of Idaho vs. (4) Southern Oregon
Saturday, Nov. 14 – Championship (Caldwell, Idaho)
2 p.m. – Semifinal winners
CALDWELL, Idaho – In the third five-set affair of the season between Southern Oregon and Lewis-Clark State (Idaho), backup pins
Duda Leite and
Maya Watters tipped the Cascade Conference Tournament quarterfinal scales in the Raiders' favor on Thursday at the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
The No. 4-seeded Raiders won 19-25, 25-21, 25-17, 10-25, 18-16 by shaking off a miserable fourth set and rallying from down 9-5 in the fifth. Trailing 16-15, Leite pushed SOU to the finish line with kills on three consecutive points.
SOU (22-9 overall) advanced to play top-seeded and No. 5-ranked College of Idaho in Friday's semifinals of the CCC Championships presented by U.S. Bank. That match will begin at 4 p.m. PT, following the other semifinal between No. 2 seed Eastern Oregon and No. 3 seed Corban.
The Raiders and No. 5-seeded Warriors (19-9) had split their other two tiebreaker contests. Leite, a senior right-side, and Watters, a senior outside, gave the latest to SOU by combining for 29 kills.
Senior middle
Tessa Zimmermann also loomed large with 11 kills and only one error on 23 attempts. With the Raiders down 11-9 in the fifth, she went on a personal 3-1 run to tie the match with three kills down the center. She was rotated out by the time SOU faced match point, but Leite delivered with her left arm from three different angles on as many swings to put the Warriors away and reach a new career-high kill total.
After totaling just five kills and 10 attacking errors in the fourth set, the Raiders recorded 11 kills and two errors in the fifth, hitting at a blistering .529 average.
Annie Hite distributed 29 assists and
Isabelle Foote had 23, also helping
Briella Mathis to 10 kills and
Friley Curtiss to eight.
The Raiders wrapped up with only five blocks – their lowest total in a five-setter this fall – but survived defensively thanks to the back-row play of
Maelle Garon (15 digs),
Perseis Rosas-Suenishi (14) and
Katie White (12).
LC State's Mikale Roy and Hadyn Smith combined for 26 kills and five errors, but top attacker Taylor Boyce was held to 10 kills with eight errors on a match-high 40 swings.
The SOU-CI meeting will be a rubber match. The Yotes won on their home court in five sets on Sept. 12, and the Raiders pulled off a straight-set upset in Ashland three weeks ago.
