ASHLAND – The No. 18-ranked Southern Oregon volleyball team explored a wide range of emotions while eking out a five-set win over Walla Walla (Wash.) in the Cascade Conference opener for both teams on Thursday at Lithia Motors Pavilion.
The Raiders (9-2 overall) took the first two sets with relative ease and had to fend off five match-points in the fifth of a 25-18, 25-18, 19-25, 18-25, 17-15 decision that went down as their sixth consecutive victory.
The Wolves (0-3), behind All-America outside hitter Sahara Browning's 23 kills, nine digs and four blocks, had momentum squarely on their side and a 14-10 lead in the tiebreaker after Keani Kahele's service ace. A pair of WWU errors and kills from SOU's
Bella Cormack and
Maya Watters tied it up, but Browning made it 15-14 with her final kill of the match.
Marian Vega Castro ended a long, fretful rally with a kill to level the score again, and
Katie White's service ace preceded a Browning attempt that went wide of the line to complete the Raiders' decisive 7-1 run.
Senior middle
Tessa Zimmermann kept the Raiders afloat with five kills in the tiebreaker session. She finished with 17 on a .615 attacking average. Over her last five outings, she has accumulated 45 kills compared to three errors.
Watters added 13 kills,
Annie Hite had 24 assists, and White and
Maelle Garon contributed three aces apiece while combining for 18 digs for the Raiders.
Their attacking efficiency by set told the story: .172 in the first, .280 in the second, .029 in the third, .026 in the fourth and .296 in the fifth.
WWU slowed them down with a 13-6 edge in blocks. Lauren Moody accounted for eight of those, and Olivia Cheek starred with 26 assists and 14 digs.
The Raiders and Wolves have gone the distance in each of their last three matchups.
SOU will face top-12 opponents in three straight CCC matches starting at 6 p.m. Friday against No. 12 Lewis-Clark State (Idaho).
