No. 12-ranked Southern Oregon will face yet another Top 25 team when No. 9 College of Idaho visits Ashland Friday.
ASHLAND - After wrapping up its preseason schedule, the Southern Oregon University volleyball team will begin Cascade Conference play by skipping right to the good stuff as two perennial powerhouses will meet on the SOU campus Friday.
The College of Idaho Coyotes (3-4) will bring their lofty No. 9 ranking to McNeal Pavilion to meet the 12th-ranked Raiders (2-5) in a rematch of last year’s co-league champions. Each team won on its own home floor against the other in 2007 for a split of the season series en route to matching 19-1 loop records.
The 7 p.m. Friday match will be followed by a 5 p.m. clash with Eastern Oregon on Saturday.
The Coyotes’ early-season struggles have been as deceptive as those of the Raiders. Of their four losses, three have come to Top 10 teams including five-set bouts with No.8 Point Loma Nazarene and No. 10 Madonna.
The Raiders, on the other hand, have dropped two matches to top-ranked Fresno Pacific and one apiece last weekend to the No. 3, No. 4 and No. 21 teams in the nation.
“It was a big learning experience, which was pretty much what we expected,” SOU head coach Josh Rohlfing said of the weekend. “It was just a young group playing against very experienced, quality teams.”
The Raiders will try to get back on track behind the play of junior setter Lindsey Stone, who is averaging 7.89 assists per set. Outside hitters Samantha Yutzie and Sarah Holgen lead Southern Oregon with 2.24 and 2.05 kills per set averages, while Mia Wortell is tops on the team with a .165 attack percentage.
Leading the charge for the ‘Yotes is junior outside hitter Sarah Buehler who has posted 3.39 kills per set this year, up from 2.21 per set in 2007. Middle blocker Krisitin Henning led the Cascade Conference in blocks last year and has 28 to go along with Marcella Hernandez’s league-leading 31 this year. Sophomore Madie Machurek handles the setting duties at a 7.78 assists per set clip.
“They’re every bit as good as that ranking,” said Rohfling. “They’re going to pose a lot of problems for us and there’s going to be no real let down from the competition we’ve seen so far.”
Eastern Oregon was picked to finish fourth by the league’s coaches in the preseason poll after posting a 13-7 conference record a season ago. The Mountaineers are led by junior middle blocker Grace Deboodt’s 3.30 kills per set on a .319 hitting percentage.
Rohlfing warns that the Mountaineers are one of the most athletic and experienced teams in the league.
“I expect them to be a top team in the conference,” he said. “In that sense we’re preparing for both teams the same way.”
Saturday’s match has been moved from 7 p.m. to 5 p.m. as to not conflict with SOU’s home football game at 6 p.m.