Cavs Secure No. 3 Seed with Five-Set win on Senior Night

11/9/2013 9:45:00 PM

Concordia 3 Southern Oregon 2 (25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 17-25, 15-11)?? Stats Comparison CU SOU Kills 57 66 Errors 19 30 Attack Pct. .230 .194 Assists 56 60 Digs 80 76 Blocks 14.0 9.0 Aces 3 11 CU Leaders SOU Hogan Stein 14 Kills 17 Pinheiro Mangan 53 Assists 55 McGowne Gritsch 25 Digs 32 Goudarzian Goringe 4.0 Blocks 3 Gasman Jibby 2 Aces 4 Pinheiro

PORTLAND, Ore.—Giving up a two-set lead, Concordia used a 7-to-1 run to start the fifth set to hold off Southern Oregon 3-2 (25-20, 25-23, 18-25, 17-25, 15-11) in the CCC regular-season finale on Saturday night.

Winning the battle for the third seed in the CCC Championships, Concordia improved to 21-6 on the season and 14-4 in conference play. The Cavaliers will host No. 6-seeded Oregon Tech in the quarterfinals of the conference tournament on Tuesday, Nov. 12.

Southern Oregon fell to 16-9 on the year and 13-5 in league contests for the No. 5 seed. The Raiders will host Northwest Christian (17-10, 10-8 CCC) in the second quarterfinal match. The winners of the two Tuesday matches will advance to the semifinals which will be hosted by regular-season champion College of Idaho (16-9, 16-2 CCC) on Nov. 15-16.

The Cavaliers looked poised for a sweep over the visiting SOU side after taking the first two sets, but the Raiders responded with convincing wins in the third and fourth to force the match in the decisive fifth set.

With a trio of kills coming from Brianna Hogan (Portland, Ore./Centennial H.S.), the Cavs opened up a 7-1 lead to start the fifth. Concordia increased its lead to eight with the score 13-5 after another Hogan swing, but having already proving their resilience, SOU quieted the Concordia crowd with a 5-1 run of their own.

Facing match point at 14-10, an Emma Gasman block kept the Raiders alive momentarily before Hogan combined with Mariah Raudsepp (Dundee, Ore./C.S. Lewis Academy) for a match-ending block of their own.

Overall, Concordia outhit the Raiders .230 to .186 while forcing SOU into 30 attacking errors. The Cavs held a slight edge in digs, 80-to-76, and finished with a sizable advantage on the block, 14-to-9.

Hogan and teammate Jackie Stein (Portland, Ore./Westview H.S.) shard the team lead with 14 kills while Amanda Goringe (Aloha, Ore./Aloha H.S.) (10) and Raudsepp (9) added offensive support. Goringe added six block assists and a solo stuff to lead the effort up front.

Paulla Pinheiro led the court with 17 kills while teammates Mona Goudarzian (15) and Liz Madden (14) also reached double figures.

In a battle of two of the league's top setters, SOU's Lauren McGowne edged CU's Lindsay Mangan (Huntington Beach, Calif./Marina H.S.) in total assists, 55-to-53. SOU's Renee Yomtob led all players with 32 digs while Shantel Gritsch (Gresham, Ore./Clackamas H.S.) and Ashley Jibby (Post Falls, Idaho/Post Falls H.S.) paced CU with 25 and 22 digs, respectively.

Before the match, Concordia honored its three seniors: Mangan, Melanie Miller (Hillsboro, Ore./Liberty H.S.) and Jenna Huie (Stayton, Ore./Stayton H.S.). Miller tallied nine digs, nine kill and five blocks in an all-around solid performance while Huie provided a pair of digs and served through three key Concordia runs, including a streak of six straight points in CU's early barrage in the fifth set.