Southern Oregon Sails Past Evergreen
ASHLAND, Ore. – The Southern Oregon volleyball team had an excellent home opener for the 2007 season, taking only one hour to sweep the Geoducks of Evergreen State, 3-0. In his home debut, head coach Josh Rohlfing led his Raiders (7-4, 2-1) over the Geoducks (0-3, 0-3) in three games, winning 30-12, 30-7, 30-14. The win put the Raiders up 12-1 in the two teams' series, which began in 2001.
The Raiders dominated the match and saw action from all 14 players, while the Geoducks made a courageous effort to play with no substitutes and all of their six available players on the court. Coming out in full force, the Raiders tallied 41 kills on the night for a .500 hitting percentage as well as an outstanding number of aces (14).
The Raiders dominated each game, hitting .458, .737, and .370 in games one, two, and three, respectively. The Raiders held the Geoducks to -.150, -.238, and -.091 in hitting in the three games. Junior Mia Wortel (Estacada, Ore.) was on fire, nailing 12 kills on 14 attempts (.786 hitting percentage). Seniors Shanna Claflin (Grants Pass, Ore.) and Richelle Millsap (Bend, Ore.) added six and five kills on the night, respectively. Setter Lindsey Stone (Ashland, Ore.) ran the Raider offense with 24 set assists while Molly Grossmann (Ashland, Ore.) added 11 assists in addition to leading the Raiders with three service aces. Emily Stone (Ashland, Ore.) notched six digs on the night while Claflin added four.
The Geoducks tallied 14 kills, six blocks and 18 digs on the night. ESC’s Natasha Taito led the Geoducks in kills with four, while Katie Houston tallied three kills. Houston also added nine assists while Taito and Kandice Gleaves each notched service aces.
The Raiders will take on Northwest University on Saturday, Sept. 15 in a match that begins at 7 p.m.