Krista Galloway recorded 7 kills in just 11 attempts (.455) versus Southern Oregon tonight. (photo by Kelly Caleb)
Oregon Tech Falls to Raiders in Four
KLAMATH FALLS, Ore. – Tied 1-1, Southern Oregon withstood Oregon Tech comebacks in both sets 3 and 4 and secured a victory in Cascade Collegiate Conference volleyball action over the Owls tonight in Klamath Falls, 3-1 (25-11, 24-26, 25-22, 25-23).
Oregon Tech falls to 10-15 overall and 2-10 in CCC play, while Southern Oregon improved to 10-2 in the conference standings and 14-8 overall.
Kristen Walters led the Oregon Tech offensive attack with 12 kills, followed by 10 from Kara Young and 8 from Jennifer Saltenberger. Kayleigh Whelchel finished with 27 assists, while Marie Baumann added a match-high 30 digs in the loss for the Owls.
Southern Oregon’s Haley Kasler came away with 12 kills to lead the Raiders, while Mona Goudarzian added 10 kills and Jordan Crossley 8 in the win. Caryn Westrick and Angela Spieker combined for 41 assists, with Renee Yomtob gathering 27 digs.
Trailing Southern Oregon 6-7 to begin set 1, the Raiders would outscore Oregon Tech 18-5 over the remainder of the opener and roll to a 25-11 victory. The second set, however would belong to the Owls.
Trying to gather some momentum after falling behind SOU 3-7 in set 2, Oregon Tech took advantage of four Raider errors and an ace, while kills from Krista Galloway and Kara Young pushed the Owls to a 10-8 lead. Tech would never trail from that point. A trio of SOU miscues increased Tech’s lead to five points, and the Owls would maintain that margin after a Jennifer Saltenberger kill followed by back-to-back blocks made it 19-14.
Southern made things interesting, after trailing 22-17, the Raiders notched six of the next seven points to tie it at 23-23. Still tied at 24 apiece, Oregon Tech used a Raider service error to make it set point, while a combo block from Galloway and Joelle Swanson tied the match at 1-1 after a 26-24 win.
Nine ties in set 3, the last at 19-19, would set the tone for the remainder of the night. An Oregon Tech error would give the edge to SOU, 19-20, while SOU’s Mona Goudarzian followed with a kill, with two more Owl errors giving the Raiders a 19-23 lead. Kills from Young and Saltenberger pulled the Owls within two points, but SOU’s Liz Madden put the Raiders up 2-1 after a kill to end set 3.
The Owls would take an early 5-3 lead in set 4, but the Raiders quickly moved up 5-6 after scoring three-straight. The set continued to stay close, as Saltenberger and Young teamed up once again for back-to-back kills to put the Owls only one back, 12-13, midway through. SOU would manage to score the next four points to push momentum back their way. The Owls, however, never gave up using kills by Walters and Saltenberger, along with a SOU attack error and block from Saltenberger and Swanson to trail 21-22. SOU moved up 23-21, but back-to-back Young and Walters spikes gave the Owls hope with the set tied 23-23. SOU’s Goudarzian added her final kill of the night, while an Owl miscue on the final play gave the victory to the Raiders.