Whitney Owen had 34 digs in the Coyote win
CALDWELL, Idaho - Behind a big night from senior Sarah Harris, The College of Idaho overcame a slow start to knock off Oregon Tech 23-25, 25-14, 25-5, 25-15 in Cascade Conference volleyball action inside the J.A. Albertson Activities Center.
Harris had 14 kills, eight blocks, and three service aces in the win for the No. 17 ranked Lady Yotes (13-4, 10-1 CCC), their 51st-straight league win at home.
A night after defeating No. 12 ranked Southern Oregon, the Coyotes struggled early against the Owls (10-13, 2-9), as OIT scored the first four points of the match – forcing three C of I hitting errors, pushing the edge to 15-8 on a Coyote miscue. The hosts would rally, using a Harris spike to cap a 9-2 run to even the score at 17-17, however, a Christine Bansen kill would give Tech the lead for good to steal the opener.
From there, it was all C of I – as the Coyotes logged 13 team blocks, eight aces, and held OIT to just 16 kills in the next three sets to win the match. At one stretch, the Lady Yotes won 58-of-73 points between sets two and four.
Leading just 11-9 in Set 2, a Madison Curtis kill sparked a six-point push that gave the hosts the momentum. Set 3 was all C of I, logging 15 kills without a hitting error – equaling the school record for fewest points allowed in a rally scoring set. The final set was not as close as the score indicated, as the Coyotes led 23-8 on a Lauren Bourgeau spike, before OIT staved off six match points, before a Liz Myers kill ended the night.
Bourgeau had 12 kills in the win, while setters Madie Machurek and Naomi Reimer combined for 48 assists, 15 digs, and five aces. Whitney Owen led all players with 34 digs.
Megan Christensen led OIT with eight kills, while Sarah Svedin had five kills, 12 assists, six digs, and three blocks.
The C of I returns to action next weekend at Corban and Northwest Christian.