SOU Volleyball Rebounds with a Pair of Victories
LA MIRADA, Calif. -- After dropping its first two tournament matches on Friday, the Southern Oregon volleyball team rebounded in a big way Saturday with wins over two teams of Warriors, sweeping Westmont and defeating No. 7 Lewis-Clark State 3-2 to close out the Biola University/Holiday Inn Summer Slam.
The wins improve Southern Oregon's record to 3-2 overall as the Raiders prepare to open Cascade Collegiate Conference play when they travel to Klamath Falls to face Oregon Tech on Aug. 31 at 7 p.m.
After pointing to a lack of rhythm in yesterday's matches, SOU head coach Josh Rohlfing said that today was an entirely different story.
"It was just a change of mindset," Rohlfing said. "We're the same team, but we just played at a whole different clip. We were doing all the little things the right way and it was a completely different atmosphere the entire day."
Rohlfing believes this weekend was key for the team's improvement moving forward as they prepare to open league play next week.
"I think we grew a lot this weekend," Rohlfing said. "Today we got a rhythm to what we were doing and we prepared ourselves the right way both physically and mentally. When we do that we can play with anyone. We're growing as a team every second that we play and we're only going to improve."
Game One: SOU 3, Westmont 0
BOX SCORE
Southern Oregon hit .435 in the opening set and compiled a .410 hitting percentage in the match as the Raiders swept the Warriors 25-16, 25-22 and 25-18.
Westmont jumped ahead early, holding a 5-2 lead after seven points and a 7-3 advantage after 10, but the Raiders used a 5-1 run to tie the set at 8-8. The Warriors continued to hold slight leads in the game, with their last advantage coming at 15-14. Southern Oregon finished the set on an 11-1 run that included a nine-point clinching streak with two service aces from Renee Yomtob.
The second set was all Raiders early, with Westmont mounting a late comeback. Southern Oregon scored the first four points and eight of the first 10, eventually stretching its lead to eight points at 14-6 and 16-8. The Warriors used a 10-3 run to pull within one at 19-18, but SOU responded by taking the next three points to stretch its lead back to four. The Warriors' final push scored three of the next four points to make it 24-22, but Megan Bartling's kill clinched the set victory for SOU.
In the third set, the Warriors took an early 3-1 lead and were within one point of SOU at 7-6, but the Raiders used a 14-6 run to pull ahead by nine points at 21-12. Westmont outscored the Raiders 6-4 the remainder of the set, but it was too late for the Warriors, as Marie Trudelle's attack error sealed the sweep for the Raiders.
Sarah Holgen continued her dominant stretch for the Raiders, posting her fourth consecutive match with at least 15 kills to open the season. The senior totaled a game-high 17 kills with a .467 attack percentage. Bartling also finished in double-digits in the kill column, adding 10 for the Raiders with a .562 attack percentage. Yomtob added 11 digs for the Raiders, while Angela Spieker and Caryn Westrick split setting duties to compile a total of 37 assists between the duo.
Game Two: SOU 3, Lewis-Clark State 2
BOX SCORE
The Raiders' final match of the tournament came down to a fifth set, and SOU had to come back from a six-point deficit in the deciding set. Southern Oregon finished the match with set scores of 25-27, 25-21, 25-27, 19-25 and 16-14.
The opening set saw Lewis-Clark State take a 6-1 lead before the Raiders rallied back to tie it at 11-11. The game was even the rest of the way, with 12 ties before the Warriors got back-to-back kills from Lauryn Herrick and Kelli Ticker to pick up the set victory, 27-25.
Lewis-Clark State again started strong in the second half, taking an early 7-4 lead before the Raiders tied it at 9-9. Southern Oregon used an 11-4 run to turn a three-point deficit into a 15-11 advantage, but L-C SC scored the next four points to tie the set at 15 apiece. Southern Oregon took the next two points and led the rest of the way, ending the set on a 5-2 run to take the 25-21 win.
In the third game, the Warriors scored the first two points before a 6-point SOU run gave the Raiders a four-point lead. Lewis-Clark State took the next four points to pull even at 7-7, but Southern Oregon closed the set on an 18-10 stretch to take a 2-1 advantage in the match.
The Warriors tied the match with a win in the fourth set, using an 11-6 run to turn a 14-13 lead into a 25-19 set victory to force a fifth game. The Warriors hit .353 in the set, while limiting Southern Oregon to a .100 attack percentage.
In the final set, the Raiders took the first two points before the Warriors took a pair of their own to tie it up at 2-2. After SOU reclaimed a two-point advantage, L-C State used a four-point streak to jump ahead and prompt the Raiders to take a timeout. The Warriors took the first two points out of the timeout to claim a three-point advantage at 8-4, extending their streak to six points before a service error ended the run.
Lewis-Clark State used a couple SOU errors to stretch their lead to 11-5 before a 7-1 Raider run tied it at 12-12. The Warriors picked up the next two points to reach match point, but Southern Oregon scored four in a row to clinch the set and match victory on Spieker's kill.
"We just kept saying to play one point at a time, and they took it to heart," Rohlfing said. "We were just going to keep playing and leave it in LC-State's hand to decide if they want to ratchet it up, and we did a great job of keeping it on them."
Holgen and Natalie Scheller tied for the team lead with 15 kills apiece, with Holgen adding 15 digs to compile the double-double. Ticker finished with a match-high 19 kills and Herrick added 16 for the Warriors. Spieker and Westrick combined for 48 assists for SOU, and Liz Madden added 12 kills in the victory.
"That was just an exciting and fun match to be a part of," Rohlfing said.