Southern Oregon Snaps Northwest Win Streak at Seven
KIRKLAND, Wash. – Haley Kasler, Natalie Scheller and Mona Goudarzian combined for 47 kills as Southern Oregon snapped Northwest University’s seven game win streak with a 3-1 win (26-24, 24-26, 25-15, 25-18) over the Eagles in Cascade Conference play tonight.
With the victory, Southern Oregon improves to 5-1 in conference and 9-7 overall while Northwest drops to 3-3 in the CCC and 9-6 on the season.
The first two sets proved to be tightly contested throughout with both teams battling for points. In the first set, Southern Oregon would come from behind as they trailed 21-16 at one point after a Raider error and a kill by NU’s Olivia VanDlac. SOU would slowly gain ground on the Eagles and with NU leading 22-19, they would commit two straight miscues and the Raiders would pull to within one, 22-21. A bad set by NU would tie the set at 23-all and SOU would take the lead, 24-23, on a Natalie Scheller kill. VanDlac would tie it for Northwest with her kill, but kills by Haley Kasler and Scheller would give the Raiders the two point 26-24 win.
Both teams would battle early as the set would see 9 ties. With the score tied at 11-11, Northwest would take the lead for good, 13-11, after two straight SOU errors. A kill by Olivia VanDlac and two straight service aces by Ashton Arbuthnot would give NU a four point, 16-12 lead which they would never relinquish. SOU would not go away quietly and tie the set in the late going at 23-all and 24-24, but each time NU would come back to take the lead. A kill and service ace by Molly Boyle and a miscue by Southern Oregon would give NU the narrow, 26-24 set win.
SOU would rebound in the third set and break out to a 15-9 lead topped off by two kills by Kasler and one by Natalie Scheller. Southern would maintain a comfortable lead the remainder of the way as another Kasler kills would end set three.
In the final set, Southern Oregon would take a 14-9 lead after kills by Sam Boehnke and Mona Goudarzian along with two straight Northwest errors. NU would make a run late to pull to within five, 22-17, but kills by Jordan Crossley and Boehnke would score kills to increase the Raider lead and Haley Kasler would win the set and match with her kill.
Olivia VanDlac led Northwest U. (9-5, 3-3 CCC) with a team high 14 kills and added 18 digs. Breanna Covey had 11 kills while teammate Ashton Arbuthnot had a match high 41 assists. Heather Shulke contributed 18 digs for the Eagles.
Southern Oregon (9-7, 5-1 CCC) was led by Haley Kasler’s 17 kills while Mona Goudarzian and Natalie Scheller each recorded 15 kills. Caryn Westrick had a team high 28 assists and Renee Yomtob had a team high 23 digs.
"When we serve and pass to our standards, we can compete with just about anyone," commented Steven Bain, Eagle head coach, "but tonight, Southern was clearly the better team. We learned a lot though, even in defeat and I am certain our players will use this experience to make changes and continue improving."
Northwest U. remains at home and will host Oregon Tech tomorrow night while Southern Oregon head south to Olympia to play Evergreen. Both matches are scheduled for 7 p.m.