Natalie Scheller led SOU with 16 kills
SOU Downs Northwest in Final Home Regular Season Match
BOX SCORE
ASHLAND – The Southern Oregon volleyball team closed out its regular season home schedule Saturday night with a 3-1 victory over Northwest (25-17, 25-18, 20-25, 25-18) Saturday night at Bob Riehm Arena.
Southern Oregon improves to 18-8 overall and 14-2 in Cascade Collegiate Conference play, while Northwest falls to 13-12 overall and 7-9 in the CCC.
Natalie Scheller led SOU with 16 kills and a .355 attack percentage, and Haley Kasler added 14 kills. Renee Yomtob averaged almost nine digs per set, totaling 35 in the match, and Caryn Westrick (28 assists/13 digs) and Angela Spieker (14 assists/11 digs) each posted double-doubles. Rae Ann Hastings led Northwest with 13 kills, while Ashton Arbuthnot finished with 35 assists and Heather Shulke tallied 32 digs.
The first set featured eight tie scores and three lead changes as Southern Oregon slowly pulled away. It was all tied up as late as 9-9 before SOU scored six of the next seven points to take a 15-10 lead. After Northwest inched to 18-14, the Raiders scored the next three points and seven of the next 11 to close out the 25-17 set victory on a kill by Scheller.
Southern Oregon took a quick 3-0 lead in the second set and jumped ahead 16-7 following a five-point streak. Northwest scored the next three points to pull within six, but the Raiders’ wouldn’t let the Eagles get any closer the rest of the way, and SOU clinched the set victory on an NU service error.
Northwest bounced back in the third set, taking three straight points after SOU opened 3-0 to tie it up. The Raiders again used a three-point streak to take a small lead, but Northwest worked its way back and used a 6-1 run to turn a 13-11 deficit into a 16-14 advantage. From that point, Northwest slowly pulled away, scoring the final two points on kills by Haistings to win the set 25-20.
The Raiders scored the first three points for the third straight set to open the fourth, but Northwest battled back to tie it up at 6-6.The Eagles hung close throughout the first half of the set, tying it again at 14-14 before SOU scored six of the next seven points to pull ahead 20-15. Northwest scored two of the next three points, but SOU closed the set and match on a 4-1 run and clinched the win on a kill by Kasler.