Mona Goudarzian led the Raiders with nine kills in the loss
Warner Pacific Defeats Southern Oregon For First Time Since 1988
BOX SCORE
ASHLAND – Warner Pacific ended a 32-match losing streak Saturday night, sweeping Southern Oregon 25-20, 25-17 and 25-22 for its first win against the Raiders since 1988.
Warner Pacific improves to 12-7 overall and 6-5 in conference play, while Southern Oregon falls to 13-8 overall and 9-2 in the CCC. Southern Oregon returns to action Wednesday, when the Raiders will travel to Klamath Fall for a Cascade Collegiate Conference rivalry match against Oregon Tech.
Warner Pacific hit .220 in the match while limiting Southern Oregon to a .084 attack percentage, with Devan Belshe’s 13 kills leading the way. Belshe added 15 digs to post a double-double in the win.
Mona Goudarzian led SOU with nine kills, and Caryn Westrick and Angela Spieker each posted 14 assists in the loss. Marchelle Bostic tallied a match-high 30 assists for the Knights.
The first set featured five tie scores and one lead change. Southern Oregon built an early 6-3 lead before Warner Pacific scored the next five points to take an 8-6 lead. The two teams stayed close and were tied up at 13-apiece before a five-point WPC run gave the Knights an 18-13 advantage. Southern Oregon pulled within two at 20-18 following a kill by Goudarzian, but the Knights scored the next three points and clinched the 25-20 set victory on a kill by Belshe.
Warner Pacific scored the first three points of the second set and led the entire way. The Knights used a six-point streak to take a 15-5 lead before SOU rallied with six consecutive points to pull within four. Back-to-back kills by Belshe helped regain the momentum for Warner Pacific, and they regained an eight-point advantage at 23-15 before a kill by Bostic clinched the 25-17 win.
Southern Oregon looked like it might claim the momentum in the third set, claiming a 10-4 lead following a kill by Tyana Andrews. But the Knights worked their way back into the set, tying the score at 14-14 and using consecutive kills by Bostic to take a 16-14 lead that they would not relinquish the rest of the way.
The Raiders tied it up at 17-apiece, but they could not regain the advantage. Warner Pacific regained a three-point advantage at 21-18 to prompt an SOU timeout, and the Raiders scored the next two points to pull within one. Following a Warner Pacific timeout, the Knights scored four of the next six points to win the match and defeat SOU for the first time in nearly 25 years.