Kathryn Ely had 19 kills in Coyote win
The College of Idaho withstood a match-point in Set 4 to claim their 37th-straight Cascade Conference home victory, toppling No. 21 ranked Southern Oregon, 25-18, 16-25, 26-28, 27-25, 15-12 inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
SOU rallied from a 21-13 deficit in the fourth set, taking a 25-24 lead on a tandem block from Sarah Holgen and Megan Bartling. However, the No. 11 ranked Yotes (7-1, 4-0 CCC) staved off elimination with a Naomi Reimer kill, then got a solo block from Kristin Henning and a Jessie Link kill to force the final set.
The Coyotes never trailed in the fifth set, jumping out to a 5-1 lead. The Raiders (9-2, 3-1) closed to 14-12, but Marcella Hernandez closed the match with a kill.
It was a back and forth affair, as the Yotes used six kills from Kathryn Ely in the opening set to earn the lopsided win, while the Raiders used six team blocks – forcing 12 C of I hitting errors in their Set 2 victory.
The middle set was a doozie, as the Coyotes jumped out to an early 6-1 lead, but SOU battled to tie score at 13-13 – one of ten ties in the period. SOU would serve for the set at 24-23, but Becky Johnstone’s serve was wide. The C of I would have two set points of their own, but kills by Leah Bergstrom and Holgen kept Southern alive, getting spikes from Heather Porter and Chelsea Hartman for the win.
Ely led the Yotes with 19 kills and seven digs, with Reimer adding 16 kills and 30 assists, Link 12 kills and four blocks, and Hernandez ten kills and nine digs. Madie Machurek had 31 assists with Whitney Owen recording 33 digs.
Bergstrom had 18 kills to lead Southern, with Porter adding ten kills and eight blocks, with Leanne Stennett and Bartling each recording nine total blocks – part of an monster 18 team block effort by SOU. Angela Spieker had 24 assists for the Raiders, with Johnstone adding 21 digs.
The Lady Yotes return to action next weekend, traveling to Portland, Ore., for matches at Warner Pacific and Concordia.