ASHLAND, Ore. - Things figure to get a little messy near the upper-half of the Cascade Conference standings this weekend, as the loop’s only two one-loss teams are scheduled to meet those directly behind them - but the Southern Oregon volleyball team hopes the reshuffling isn’t done at the very top.
The 21st-ranked Raiders (13-7, 11-1), down a spot in the rankings despite sweeping through another weekend and running their win-streak up to 10 matches, will face Eastern Oregon (15-5, 10-2) on Friday night. The Mountaineers handed the Raiders their only CCC loss in their second league contest of the season.
The Raiders will then swap opponents with 11-1 and conference co-leader Oregon Tech on Saturday and travel to Caldwell to face College of Idaho, who is currently deadlocked with Eastern Oregon at 10-2 in league play.
“We’re in a good spot,” Coach Josh Rohlfing said. “This is a week where we can really take that next step.”
Junior setter Lindsey Stone totaled 68 assists over the weekend in matching 3-0 wins over Northwest and Evergreen State en route to her fifth consecutive CCC Setter of the Week award. Stone’s mark of 11.6 assists per set in conference action is tops in the league and good for seventh nationally.
“She really does deserve the award every week - she’s that good,” Rohlfing said. “She brings more than just skill; she’s our floor general and she’s still growing every week.”
Freshman Sarah Holgen paced Raider hitters with 19 weekend kills, Maggie Rivers had 29 digs, and senior stalwart Mia Wortel added 18 kills on only 28 attacks and a single error.
Wortel’s .461 hitting percentage in CCC play is sixth in the nation, and since the win-streak began she is hitting at an astonishing .530 clip with 94 kills and 11 errors, while contributing 33 blocks. The middle blocker is now 18 kills shy of moving past Jaclyn Hamilton-Smith and into sixth-place on the all-time Raider kill list.
The Raiders hope to avenge a 3-1 home setback to Eastern Oregon back on Sept. 6, the loss coming a day after opening up with a sweep of preseason CCC favorite College of Idaho. The Mountaineers are currently riding an eight-match win-streak and have lost only to Oregon Tech and C of I.
“We’re a completely different team from (when the teams first met),” Rohlfing said. “We’re healthy now, which has added to our intensity and competition in practice, and our confidence is on another level.”
Leading the charge for the Mountaineers is junior Grace Deboodt, who averages 3.31 kills per set. Deboodt is also second in the league in blocks with 1.14 per set, and Jessica Lea handles the setting duties with 5.79 per game.
College of Idaho has presented a number of problems for the Raiders at home, winning four of the last five matches played between the schools in Caldwell, including the Raiders’ only conference setback last year. Last week, the Coyotes had their 42-match winning streak snapped.
The Coyotes’ Kristin Henning leads the CCC with a .497 hitting percentage on 2.71 kills per set, and teammate Sarah Buhler is ninth in the league with a 3.01 kill average.