Liz Madden had a season-high 14 kills for SOU.
ASHLAND – A slip-up in the first set was nothing new for the Southern Oregon University volleyball team Saturday against Warner Pacific. The way it responded was a different story.
For the second straight night the Raiders gave away the first frame by a score of 26-24 at Bob Riehm Arena. But they recovered in gracefully dominant fashion this time around, sinking the Knights 25-22, 25-19, 25-8 thereafter in a Cascade Conference triumph.
Liz Madden delivered 14 kills to pace three attackers in double digits as the Raiders (6-6 overall, 3-2 CCC) salvaged a weekend split with the four-set win. Four of those kills were put down when the Raiders took over the match by breaking a 17-all tie in the third frame with an 8-2 run.
"We needed to be challenged and to get over the hump," Raiders coach Josh Rohlfing said. "We responded this time and it was great for us to change that pattern of getting up on people and giving it back."
The Knights sunk to 1-5 in the CCC and 3-12 overall.
SOU made sure of that by hitting at a .311 clip, its best so far in conference play, behind a balanced attack. Tyana Andrews and Nikki keller registered 10 kills apiece, freshman Emma Gasman took advantage of her first start with nine kills on 17 attacks and Paulla Pinheiro threw in eight kills and 12 digs.
Lauren McGowne, SOU's blossoming freshman setter, set a new season high for the third straight match with 45 assists. She added six digs and four kills and set the Raiders up to commit just four attacking errors in the final two sets after having 12 in the first two.
Madden led the way there, getting in nine of her kills after the midway point and all of them on just 29 swings to hit .414. Despite all but two of the Raiders' matches ending in three sets up to this point, she's notched at least seven kills in 11 of 12.
"Liz was having a night and she was being really aggressive," Rohlfing said. "We talked about continuing to feed her in a couple timeouts and she went strong the whole time and was committed to burying what she did."
The Raiders led 21-18 before letting the first set slip away. Friday gainst 21st-ranked Concordia, they lost the first set 26-24 and served for set point in the second before doing it again.
There was less drama against Warner Pacific, especially in the final set. Pinheiro served them to five straight points and McGowne to five more to help them close it out with a 12-2 rally.
"We're just very inconsistent at times, but tonight it wasn't necessarily because we were playing poorly," Rohlfing added. "They were just making us play and putting pressure on us. The beauty of that is we turned it around."
SOU went to 35-6 in the series, avenging last year's five-set regular season loss to the Knights in Ashland.
Renee Yomtob pitched in a match-high 28 digs in the effort.
Warner Pacific was led by 15 kills from Rachel Warick and 14 from Julia Toscano.