SOU went 2-2 at this year's Paul Elliott Invitational.
Raiders Sweep Simpson, Fall To No. 1 FPU
ASHLAND, ORE. -- The Southern Oregon volleyball team swept Simpson 25-12, 25-13, 25-17 this afternoon and then fell to top-ranked and three-time NAIA defending National Champion Fresno Pacific 25-19. 25-22, 25-16 in the tonight's finale of the Paul Elliott Invitational at McNeal Pavilion.
Southern Oregon went 2-2 in the Invitational and now sports a 3-2 overall record.
Southern Oregon (3-2) played tight against the Sunbirds (4-0) in the opening set.
Back-to-back kills by junior Sarah Holgen gave the Raiders a 10-9 lead and Holgen tied the set at 15-15 on another kill.
Fresno Pacific pushed the lead to 17-15 and 18-16, but a Sunbird attack error had the Raiders within one at 18-17. Fresno Pacific then responded with four straight points to take control of the set and ended the set with a kill by Martina Gregusova.
In the second set, the Raiders fell behind 7-1 and had to battle back. Junior Lauren Swetland got the Raiders back to within one at 13-12 with a kill. After the Sunbirds had taken an 18-13 lead, SOU cut it to 18-16 on a kill by Lindsey Stone. SOU benefitted from FPU errors to cut the lead to 23-21 and 24-22, but All-American Keke Wong won it for the Sunbirds.
In the third set, after cutting the Fresno lead to 10-8 with a Leah Bergstrom kill, the Raiders didn't have an answer for the Sunbirds as the guests finished the tournament a perfect 4-0.
Holgen led the Raiders with eight kills, while Bergstrom had six and no errors. Swetland, Megan Bartling and Stone all had four blocks.
Gregusova had 13 kills to lead the Sunbirds.
In the sweep of Simpson, Holgen led the Raiders for the fourth-straight match with 12 kills. Liz Madden and Megan Bartling both had six kills and Bartling had six blocks.
For the match, SOU held Simpson to a -.022 attack percentage.
SOU is now off until Sept. 3 when they open Cascade Conference at Warner Pacific.
Other Scores From Saturday:
Montana Western 3, Simpson 0 (25-12, 25-19, 25-20)
Embry Riddle 3, Oregon Tech 0 (25-19, 25-21, 25-16)
Fresno Pacific 3, Embry Riddle 2 (25-20, 21-25, 25-18, 26-18, 15-13)
Oregon Tech 3, Montana Western 2 (26-24, 25-22, 18-25, 18-25, 15-12)