Nikki Keller had 14 kills and an .812 attacking average against Evergreen.
ASHLAND – Evergreen State's luck against the Southern Oregon University volleyball team still hasn't changed. Nikki Keller and Emma Gasman made sure of that Friday.
Keller, a junior, and Gasman, a freshman, put together SOU's two cleanest performances of the season on the same night in leading the Raiders to a 25-21, 25-18, 25-16 win at Bob Riehm Arena – their 15th straight sweep of the Geoducks in Cascade Conference play.
Keller had a remarkable 14 kills on 16 attacks, good for a .812 hitting average. Gasman hit.526, needing just 19 swings to post 11 kills. Paulla Pinheiro chipped in 10 kills and 10 digs and Mona Goudarzian nine kills as the Raiders hit .371 to Evergreen's .170.
Freshman setter Lauren McGowne racked up 50 assists – 15 more than her previous high for a three-set match this season.
"Our middles were really effective and we were able to control the ball well enough and serve it well enough that we could get them the ball whenever we wanted," Raiders coach Josh Rohlfing said. "Those two are capable of that all the time. That's the really exciting part."
The Raiders boosted their record to 8-7 overall and 5-3 in the CCC while Evergreen dropped to 2-10 and 1-6.
Gasman, a Clovis, Calif., product who hadn't started a match until two weeks ago, entered the night as the most efficient hitter in the conference and Keller was 10th.
They didn't quite settle into a rhythm until the Geoducks threatened to snap a 43-set losing streak against the Raiders when Victoria Love cut SOU's lead to 21-20 in the first frame. The Raiders took four of the next five points, though, getting kills from Tyana Andrews and McGowne to close it out.
The next two sets lacked any such stress. The Raiders jumped out to an 8-2 lead in the second, where they hit .393, and a 9-5 lead in the third, where they hit .438, without ever looking back.
Evergreen's Victoria Love – who had 37 kills in a match last weekend, the high mark for the CCC this year – put down 13 kills on 28 attacks.
Renee Yomtob led the defense of Love with 12 digs for SOU.
The Raiders will be back in action at 7 p.m. Saturday against Northwest, which was a 3-0 loser Friday at Oregon Tech.