Sarah Holgen led SOU with kills during both matches today.
Raiders Split During Opening Day Of Invite
ASHLAND, Ore. -- The 13th-ranked Southern Oregon volleyball split a pair of matches during the first day of the Paul Elliott Invitational at McNeal Pavilion. The Raiders opened the day with a 25-14, 25-18, 25-12 sweep of Montana Western and then closed out the day falling to Embry Riddle (Fla.) 25-18, 25-17, 28-30, 25-12.
The Invitational continues Saturday starting at 10 a.m. The Raiders face Simpson at 1:30 p.m. and top-ranked and defending National Champion Fresno Pacific at 7:30 p.m.
In the opener against Montana Western, the Raiders held the Bulldogs to a .035 attack percentage and were able to get plenty of players into the match.
Sarah Holgen had 11 kills and nine digs for the Raiders. Senior Leanne Stennett recorded 11 digs and nine kills and Renee Yomtob finished with a match-high 22 digs.
In the featured match of the day, Embry Riddle came out pounding the ball and the Raiders could never find their stride.
The Eagles held SOU to just 14 kills in the first two sets and appeared to be on their way to a straight-set victory.
In the third set, SOU found its rhythm on offense and showed signs of life.
Sophomore Natalie Scheller put together a pair of kills to give SOU an 11-5 lead. A pair of kills by Sarah Holgen pushed the SOU advantage to 15-12 and after back-to-back Embry errors, the Raiders had a 17-12 advantage.
The Eagles rallied back and cut the lead to 19-18 on back-to-back kills by Jordan Holcomb and took a 23-22 lead on an ace by Taylor Martin.
The two teams then battled back-and-forth, with both holding off either set or match points.
A kill by Holgen gave SOU a 29-28 lead and an attack error by the Eagles put the Raiders back in the match.
But that momentum was short lived as SOU committed six errors in a matter of 10 serves by Holcomb to take a 17-8 lead and put the match away.
Holgen led SOU with 13 kills and Scheller finished with nine. Lauren Swetland had a hand in six blocks for the Raiders.
Abby Hall finished with 21 kills and Holcomb had 18 kills and no errors for the Eagles.
Other scores from the opening day included:
Oregon Tech 3, Simpson 1 (21-25, 25-19, 25-16, 25-23)
Fresno Pacific 3, Montana Western 0 (25-10, 25-14, 25-8)
Embry Riddle 3, Simpson 0 (25-20, 25-14, 25-12)
Fresno Pacific 3, Oregon Tech 0 (25-16, 25-13, 25-6)